ONGC shares ascend 9 percent


ONGC shares ascend 9 percent
Bangalore: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) stock was among the top gainers in the market after its share price went up by nearly nine percent following the government's decision to hike the prices of natural gas produced by state firms. Having started the day at 1069.80, the stock touched its intra-day high of 1141, before closing the trade at 1118.20, with a gain of 8.72 percent. Through the day, 7,16,179 shares of ONGC were traded in the market with the current P/E ratio of the stock at 16.02. The 52 week stock price chart is on the left. ONGC is mainly engaged in the oil exploration and production activities. It has two segments: exploration and production, and refining. During the fiscal year ended March 31, 2009, the company accreted 284.81 million metric tons of oil equivalent of Initial In-place volume of hydrocarbons, with 28 discoveries (oil-17 and gas-11) spread across the Indian sedimentary basins. The government on Wednesday more than doubled the prices of natural gas produced by state firms, it said, bringing a windfall for ONGC, which will raise rates for the first time in five years. The base price of gas supplied by state firms will rise to $4.2 per million British Thermal Units, the same as the rate approved for Reliance Industries, bringing about near-uniformity in the cost of the fuel in India. Out of the 28 analysts following the stock currently, the consensus recommendation is to hold the stock, with 11 analysts suggesting a hold rating.