Large Cap Maharatna Company Inks Pact With IOC For Petrochemicals

Large cap oil and natural gas producer ONGC has signed a pact with the country's largest oil refining and fuel marketing company Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for exploring opportunities in the petrochemicals business, as per a PTI report.

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and IOC "signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore downstream opportunities, especially in petrochemicals, both greenfield projects and through acquisitions," tweeted ONGC.

Maharatna ONGC is the largest crude oil and natural gas Company in India, contributing around 71% to Indian domestic production.

Last trading price of ONGC share is Rs 157.60 per share on BSE with in intraday decline of 0.10%. ONGC shares gave return of 4% return in last 1-year. Meanwhile, last trading price of IOC share is Rs 92.88 per share with intraday fall of 0.24%
on BSE.

ONGC, which produces two-thirds of the nation's oil that is refined into fuels like petrol and diesel and more than half of gas that is used to make fertilisers and turned into CNG, already has two downstream petrochemical plants through subsidiaries.

As nations transition away from polluting fossil fuels to low-carbon sources of energy like hydrogen and use of electricity to power automobiles, oil companies the world over are reinventing themselves, stated the PTI report.

Crude oil, which is currently refined in refineries to produce petrol and diesel, is to be directly converted into petrochemicals that form building blocks for a range of plastics, paints, detergents and tires.

The demand for petrochemicals in India is projected to grow exponentially as the per capita consumption was much lower world average, stated the PTI report.