Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) shares surged over 4% to Rs 176.40 on the BSE after reporting strong Q3 results.

The company reported a nearly seven-fold increase in third-quarter net profit on Saturday, as higher oil and gas prices offset a reduction in output.

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The state-owned behemoth’s net profit in the December quarter of the current fiscal was Rs 8,764 crore, a 596.7% increase over the net profit of Rs 1,258 crore in the same time the previous year.

The country’s biggest oil and gas producer received $75.73 per barrel of crude oil produced and sold in the third quarter of the current fiscal year, compared to $43.20 per barrel in the same time in 2020-21.

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The price of gas increased to $2.90 per million British thermal units in October-December 2021, up from $1.79 the previous year. This increase in pricing more than compensated for the decrease in output. According to the company, oil production declined 3.2% to 5.45 million tonnes, while gas output fell 4.2% to 5.5 billion cubic meters.

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“The production of crude oil and gas has declined during the current year mainly due to restrictive conditions created by cyclone Tauktae and Covid, delay in the mobilization of mobile production unit Sagar Samrat to WO-16 Cluster project (in western offshore), modification work at Hazira and reservoir issues in S1 Vashistha fields in eastern offshore,” it added.

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Revenue increased by 67.3% to Rs 28,474 crore in the current quarter. Net profit increased to Rs 31,446 crore in the first nine months of the current fiscal year, up from Rs 4,512 crore in April-December 2020. Revenue increased by 61.5% to Rs 75,849 crore.

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The board of ONGC approved a 35% second interim dividend (Rs 1.75 per share).  “The total payout on this account will be Rs 2,201.55 crore.” This dividend is in addition to the first interim dividend of Rs 5.50 per share (110%) declared earlier in November 2021.