Scribd
Upload
64 views

History : Foundation To 1961

1. ONGC was established in 1956 by the Government of India to boost oil production in the country and reduce reliance on imports. It was initially a directorate but became a statutory body and then a publicly traded company. 2. ONGC has discovered major oil fields both onshore and offshore in India. It became the first Indian public sector company to invest in foreign oil exploration by participating in projects in Iran in the 1960s. 3. In recent decades, ONGC and its exploration subsidiary OVL have acquired stakes in large oil and gas fields abroad through partnerships and acquisitions in countries like Kazakhstan, Cuba, and Mozambique to further diversify India's energy resources.

Uploaded by

Yogendra Agarwal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
64 views

History : Foundation To 1961

1. ONGC was established in 1956 by the Government of India to boost oil production in the country and reduce reliance on imports. It was initially a directorate but became a statutory body and then a publicly traded company. 2. ONGC has discovered major oil fields both onshore and offshore in India. It became the first Indian public sector company to invest in foreign oil exploration by participating in projects in Iran in the 1960s. 3. In recent decades, ONGC and its exploration subsidiary OVL have acquired stakes in large oil and gas fields abroad through partnerships and acquisitions in countries like Kazakhstan, Cuba, and Mozambique to further diversify India's energy resources.

Uploaded by

Yogendra Agarwal
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

History[edit]

Foundation to 1961[edit]
Before the independence of India in 1947, the Assam Oil Company in the north-eastern and
Attock Oil company in north-western part of the undivided India were the only oil producing
companies, with minimal exploration input. The major part of Indian sedimentary basins was
deemed to be unfit for development of oil and gas resources.[9]
After independence, the Central Government of India realized the importance of oil and gas for
rapid industrial development and its strategic role in defense. Consequently, while framing the
Industrial Policy Statement of 1948, the development of petroleum industry in the country was
considered to be of utmost necessity.[9]
Until 1955, private oil companies mainly carried out exploration of hydrocarbon resources of
India. In Assam, the Assam Oil Company was producing oil at Digboi (discovered in 1889) and
Oil India Ltd. (a 50% joint venture between Government of India and Burmah Oil Company)
was engaged in developing two newly discovered large fields Naharkatiya and Moraan in Assam.
In West Bengal, the Indo-Stanvac Petroleum project (a joint venture between Government of
India and Standard Vacuum Oil Company of USA) was engaged in exploration work. The vast
sedimentary tract in other parts of India and adjoining offshore remained largely unexplored.[9]
In 1955, Government of India decided to develop the oil and natural gas resources in the various
regions of the country as part of the Public Sector development. With this objective, an Oil and
Natural Gas Directorate was set up towards the end of 1955, as a subordinate office under the
then Ministry of Natural Resources and Scientific Research. The department was constituted
with a nucleus of geoscientists from the Geological Survey of India.[9]
A delegation under the leadership of the Minister of Natural Resources visited several European
countries to study the status of oil industry in those countries and to facilitate the training of
Indian professionals for exploring potential oil and gas reserves. Experts from Romania, the
Soviet Union, the United States and West Germany subsequently visited India and helped the
government with their expertise. Soviet experts later drew up a detailed plan for geological and
geophysical surveys and drilling operations to be carried out in the 2nd Five Year Plan (1956
61).[9]
In April 1956, the Government of India adopted the Industrial Policy Resolution, which placed
Mineral Oil Industry among the schedule 'A' industries, the future development of which was to
be the sole and exclusive responsibility of the state.[9]
Soon, after the formation of the Oil and Natural Gas Directorate, it became apparent that it would
not be possible for the Directorate with its limited financial and administrative powers as
subordinate office of the Government, to function efficiently. So in August, 1956, the Directorate
was raised to the status of a commission with enhanced powers, although it continued to be
under the government. In October 1959, the Commission was converted into a statutory body by

an act of the Indian Parliament, which enhanced powers of the commission further. The main
functions of the Oil and Natural Gas Commission subject to the provisions of the Act, were "to
plan, promote, organize and implement programs for development of Petroleum Resources and
the production and sale of petroleum and petroleum products produced by it, and to perform such
other functions as the Central Government may, from time to time, assign to it ". The act further
outlined the activities and steps to be taken by ONGC in fulfilling its mandate.[9]

1961 to 2000[edit]

An ONGC platform at Bombay High in the Arabian Sea


Since its inception, ONGC has been instrumental in transforming the country's limited upstream
sector into a large viable playing field, with its activities spread throughout India and
significantly in overseas territories. In the inland areas, ONGC not only found new resources in
Assam but also established new oil province in Cambay basin (Gujarat), while adding new
petroliferous areas in the Assam-Arakan Fold Belt and East coast basins (both onshore and
offshore).[9] ONGC went offshore in early 70's and discovered a giant oil field in the form of
Bombay High, now known as Mumbai High. This discovery, along with subsequent discoveries
of huge oil and gas fields in Western offshore changed the oil scenario of the country.
Subsequently, over 5 billion tonnes of hydrocarbons, which were present in the country, were
discovered. The most important contribution of ONGC, however, is its self-reliance and
development of core competence in E&P activities at a globally competitive level.[9]
ONGC became a publicly held company in February 1994, with 20% of its equity were sold to
the public and eighty percent retained by the Indian government. At the time, ONGC employed
48,000 people and had reserves and surpluses worth 104.34 billion, in addition to its intangible
assets. The corporation's net worth of 107.77 billion was the largest of any Indian company.
In 1958 the then Chairman, Keshav Dev Malaviya, held a meeting with some geologists in the
Mussoorie office of the Geology Directorate where he accepted the need for ONGC to go outside
India too in order to enhance Indian owned capacity for oil production. The argument in support
for this step, by LP Mathur and BS Negi, was that Indian demand for crude would go up at a
faster rate than discoveries by ONGC in India.
Malaviya followed this up by making ONGC apply for exploration licences in the Persian Gulf.
Iran gave ONGC four blocks and Malaviya visited Milan and Bartlseville to request ENI and
Phillips Petroleum to join as partners in the Iran venture. This resulted in the discovery of the
Rostum oilfield in the early 'sixties, very soon after the discovery of Ankleswar in Gujarat. This
was the very first investment by the Indian public sector in foreign countries and oil from

Rostum and Raksh was brought to Cochin where it was refined in a refinery built with technical
assistance from Phillips.

2000 to present[edit]
In 2003, ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), the division of ONGC concerned with its foreign assets,
acquired Talisman Energy's 25% stake in the Greater Nile Oil project.[10]
In 2006, a commemorative coin set was issued to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding of
ONGC, making it only the second Indian company (State Bank of India being the first) to have
such a coin issued in its honor.
In 2011, ONGC applied to purchase 2000 acres of land at Dahanu to process offshore gas.[11]
ONGC Videsh, along with Statoil ASA (Norway) and Repsol SA (Spain), has been engaged in
deep-water drilling off the northern coast of Cuba in 2012.[12] On 11 August 2012, ONGC
announced that it had made a large oil discovery in the D1 oilfield off the west coast of India,
which will help it to raise the output of the field from around 12,500 barrels per day (bpd) to a
peak output of 60,000 bpd.[13]
In November 2012, OVL agreed to acquire ConocoPhillips' 8.4% stake in the Kashagan oilfield
in Kazakhstan for around US$5 billion, in ONGC's largest acquisition to date.[14] The acquisition
is subject to the approval of the governments of Kazakhstan and India and also to other partners
in the Caspian Sea field waiving their pre-emption rights.[15]
In January 2014, OVL and Oil India completed the acquisition of Videocon Groups ten percent
stake in a Mozambican gas field for a total of $2.47 billion.[16]
In June 2015, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) given a Rs27bn ($427m) offshore
contract for the Bassein development project to Larsen & Toubro (L&T).[17]
In February 2016, the board of ONGC approved an investment of Rs. 5,050 crore in Tripura for
drilling of wells and creation of surface facilities to produce 5.1 million standard cubic feet per
day gas from the states fields

You might also like