ONGC falls after PDVSA misses debt payments

NEW DELHI: Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ( ONGC) fell on Thursday after reports said that Venezuelan state oil-firm PDVSA has not made debt payments to the company since April 2017.

Following the development, the stock fell 1.35 per cent to close at Rs 189.50 on BSE. It opened at Rs 193 and touched an intraday high and low of Rs 194.95 and Rs 185.90 respectively.

PDVSA and ONGC Videsh, the overseas investment arm of ONGC signed a deal last year under which PDVSA sells oil on behalf of ONGC and sends cash to the Indian firm.

PDVSA earlier used a Russian state-owned bank and Reliance Industries as intermediaries to make payments to ONGC.

Promoters held 68.07 per cent stake in the company as of September 2017.

For the quarter ended September 30, 2017, the company reported total revenue at 18,964.85 crore and net profit stood at 5,130.74 crore.

The scrip touched its fresh 52-week high of Rs 212 on January 31, 2017 and its 52-week low of Rs 155.30 on June 27, 2017.