ISLAMABAD: Buoyed by a windfall from the global surge in oil prices, Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) on Friday announced a record Rs242.4 billion profit for fiscal year 2025-26, up 43 per cent from the previous year.

The company’s profit after tax for the first nine months of the fiscal year (July 2025 to March 2026), largely before the US-Israel war with Iran, stood at Rs115bn, compared with Rs130bn in the same period of FY2025, representing a decline of around 12pc.

The global price surge following the US-Israel attack on Iran, however, generated around Rs128bn in post-tax profit, more than the combined profit for the first three quarters. This was the company’s highest quarterly profit.

The windfall pushed full-year profit after tax to Rs242.4bn in FY2025-26, up from Rs169bn a year earlier (FY2024-25). OGDCL also recorded the first major discovery of high-grade lithium in geothermal brine in Khairpur district, Sindh, during the fiscal year.

The board of directors (BoD) of the country’s largest listed company and largest producer approved the financial results for the year, which showed net sales revenue of Rs449.191bn and the company’s highest-ever profit after tax of Rs242.374bn, representing an increase of 43pc over the preceding year.

Earnings per share (EPS) rose to Rs56.35 from Rs39.50 a year earlier. The board declared a final cash dividend of Rs6 per share (60pc), the highest-ever quarterly dividend, the company said in a statement. This was in addition to interim dividends of Rs11 per share already paid, taking the total payout for the year to Rs17 per share (170pc) — the highest-ever annual dividend declared by the company.

During the year, the company contributed Rs187bn to the national exchequer through corporate tax, dividends, royalties and other government levies. Its oil and gas production also generated estimated foreign exchange savings of $3.31bn through import substitution. Improved recoveries resulted in an overall collection rate of 107pc, with Rs577bn collected during the year.

The company’s share price appreciated by 52pc during the fiscal year, outperforming the 44pc increase in the KSE-100 Index. OGDCL’s market capitalisation reached approximately Rs1.44 trillion as of June 30, 2026, reinforcing its position as Pakistan’s largest listed company.

The company said it also made significant exploration and drilling achievements during the year. It made nine oil and gas discoveries, adding 120 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE) in proven and probable (2P) reserves and achieving a reserves replacement ratio of 236pc, the highest in its history. It spudded 23 wells and drilled 58,333 metres — the highest levels recorded in the past five years — while securing interests in 15 additional exploration blocks.

Average daily net saleable production stood at 32,861 barrels of crude oil, 667 MMcf of gas and 670 tonnes of LPG, representing year-on-year increases of 6.3pc, 2.3pc and 4.4pc, respectively, despite continued production curtailments. Amid the regional energy security situation, OGDCL successfully ramped up production to help mitigate the country’s energy demand-supply gap, with gross crude oil production surpassing 40,000 barrels per day in April 2026 for the first time in 27 quarters.

A key operational milestone was bringing Baragzai X-1 into production in April 2026. The well is currently producing approximately 5,968 barrels of oil, 17 MMcf of gas and 60 tonnes of LPG per day. The cumulative potential of its five producing formations is estimated at 15,000 barrels of oil and 45 MMcf of gas per day. The company also commissioned the Jhal Magsi development project and completed the Dakhni front-end compression project during the year.

OGDCL continued to advance its long-term growth and diversification agenda through enhanced oil recovery at Kunnar-Pasakhi, revitalisation of the Rajian heavy-oil field and assessment of mature assets.

The company also progressed its shale and tight-gas initiatives and successfully tested geothermal water at Wahid Bakhsh-1, where Pakistan’s first major discovery of high-grade lithium in geothermal brine was confirmed. Its participation in the Reko Diq copper-gold project and Abu Dhabi Offshore Block-5 further supported its strategy of developing a broader energy and resources portfolio, it said.

OGDCL strengthened its environmental, social and governance framework by introducing its first ESG Strategy and publishing its first climate disclosures aligned with the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures. It also became the first Pakistani company to join the United Nations Environment Programme’s Oil and Gas Methane Partnership 2.0 and achieved zero fatalities during the year. Its contribution to community development was recognised by the Pakistan Centre for Philanthropy, which ranked OGDCL first in the Corporate Philanthropy Awards 2025.