ISLAMABAD: While annou­ncing a robust Rs41bn quarterly profit, the state-run Oil and Gas Development Company Ltd (OGDCL) on Friday blamed about Rs15bn loss of profit on financial and operational decisions of three energy sector companies — two of them operating in the public sector.

The board of directors of OGDCL, which met on Friday, announced financial results for the quarter ending Sept 30. The company reported net sales revenue of Rs106.01bn, with a profit-after-tax (PAT) of Rs41.019bn, translating to earnings per share (EPS) of Rs9.54.

The company attributed about Rs14.73bn loss in profits to the decisions of Mari Petroleum Company Ltd (MPCL) and Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Company Ltd (SNGPL — both public sector-listed entities — and Uch Power Ltd. Otherwise, the company’s profit would have been around Rs55.75bn.

The “financial performance was, however, impacted by a final tax payment of Rs9.498bn on bonus shares issued by MPCL.

Additionally, forced production curtailments by SNGPL and UPL, with a financial impact of Rs5.230bnbn, contributed to lower profitability, together negatively affecting EPS by Rs3.42“, the company said.

The OGDCL board, therefore, approved a first interim cash dividend of Rs3 per share (30pc) for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, up from Rs1.60 per share (16pc) during the same period last year (2023).

Earlier, in its meeting on September 23, 2024, the OGDCL board had recommended a final cash dividend for the year ended June 30, 2024, at Rs4.00 per share, amounting to Rs17.204bn.

Notably, this final quarterly dividend of Rs4.00 per share marked the highest quarterly dividend in the company’s history, bringing the total cumulative dividend payout to 101pc, the company said.

The board appreciated that despite a challenging energy and crude oil price environment, a decline in operating expenses was recorded across all quarters compared to the previous fiscal year 2023-24.

This reduction reflected the company’s commitment to administrative and operational efficiencies implemented over the past couple of years.

Additionally, an increase in finance and other income by Rs9.476bn over first quarter 2023-24 positively impacted the company’s financials. The first quarter’s collection stood at 121pc against billing.

The company attributed the decline in production output to forced production curtailments because of poorly planned imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the back of crash in the energy consumption because of unaffordable tariffs both in the electricity and gas sectors.

The local producers were thus forced to shut down their operating fields to address inequilibrium in linepack of the gas pipeline system.

The company also attributed fall in production to delays in the delivery of production enhancement equipment by vendors.

“To address this, OGDCL has implemented an aggressive short-term plan to counter the production decline curve and augment oil and gas production, with results expected to reflect in the upcoming quarters of fiscal year 2024-25, the company said.

It said OGDCL contributed Rs42.09bn to the national exchequer through taxes, dividends, and royalties during the period. During the reporting period, the company’s exploration efforts yielded two gas condensate discoveries in Punjab and Sindh.

The expected combined daily production potential from these discoveries is 388 barrels of crude oil and 13 million cubic feet of gas.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2024