BENGALURU, Feb 14 Reuters Indias top oil explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation reported a 26 rise in its thirdquarter profit, helped by higher crude and gas prices.

The staterun companys profit came in at 110.45 billion rupees 1.33 billion for the quarter ended Dec. 31 compared to 87.64 billion rupees a year earlier.

India in September raised the price of locally produced gas by 40 to a record 8.57 per million metric British thermal units mmBtu. The gas prices nearly tripled from a year ago.

The crude oil realisation per barrel was up 15.1 at 87.13 compared to 75.73 a year earlier, while the realisation as per joint venture was up 12.2 at 84.99.

Demand for crude and natural gas remained higher as economic activity picked up postpandemic, driving revenue from operations up 35.5 to 385.83 billion rupees.

However, total crude oil production fell 1 to 5.396 million metric tonnes MMT while total gas production dropped 3.8 from a year earlier, the company said in an exchange filing.

Uncertainties and constraints across the global supply chain due to the RussiaUkraine conflict have adversely affected the production of crude oil and gas, the company said.

Oil India Ltd, another staterun oil explorer also reported a betterthanexpected jump in thirdquarter profit last week, helped by increased production and better price realisation.

1 82.7740 Indian rupees

Reporting by Dimpal Gulwani; Editing by Janane Venkatraman

Source Reuters