Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to Oil India Limited 2Q FY25 Results Conference Call hosted by Antique Stock Broking Limited. As a reminder, all participants' lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during the conference call, please signal an operator by pressing star, then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Varatharajan Sivasankaran from Antique Stock Broking Limited. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thank you, Neha. A very good morning to everyone. I would like to welcome all the participants to this call and the management of Oil India Limited. Represented by Sri Ashok Das, Director HR, also holding additional charges, Director Finance. Sri Saloma Yomdo, Director E&D, holding additional charges, Director Operations. Sri Rupam Barua, ED F&A and CFO. And Sri Sachidananda Maharana, CGM F&A. I would like to hand over the call to the management for their initial remarks, and then we can move on to Q&A.
Thank you, Mr. Varatharajan. We now request our Director, HR and Additional Charge Director Finance, Mr. Ashok Das, to kindly give his inaugural address to the audience.
Thank you. A very warm good morning to the friends at the outset. We would like to thank Antique Stock Broking Limited for organizing this call for discussing the Q2 FY25 results with the management of the company. The company's financial results for the quarter ended September 24 were approved by the board of directors on 5 November 2024 and have been published. The company has achieved significant milestones in terms of growth in production, number of both crude oil and natural gas. The significant financial and operating achievement will be briefed by our ED F&A and CFO, which can be followed by a Q&A session. So I welcome you once again to the phone call. Thank you.
Good morning, dear friends. We are outside, but I would like to thank Antique Stock Broking Limited for organizing today's analyst call. I am Rupam Barua, CFO of this company. The company's financial results up to financial year 24-25 were published on 5 November 2024. I'll briefly give some highlights about the performance of the company in both physical and financial terms. Now, coming to the standalone results, we're beginning with the production front. The company has continued to improve its crude oil production, which is higher by 4.79% in quarter ended 30 September 2024 at 0.875 MMT vis-à-vis 0.835 MMT in the quarter ended 30 September 2023. Crude oil production has increased by 5.5% in half-year ended 30 September 2024 at 1.746 MMT vis-à-vis 1.655 MMT in the half-year ended 30 September 2023.
Natural gas production during half-year ended 30 September 2024 is at 1.617 BCM, increased by 3.99% over the production in half-year ended 30 September 2023, which was 1.555 BCM. However, natural gas production for the quarter ended 30 September 2024 is markedly lower by 1.36% at 0.799 BCM vis-à-vis 0.810 BCM for the quarter ended 30 September 2023. On the financial side, average crude oil price realization for Q2 is $79.33 per barrel vis-à-vis $86.86 per barrel for Q2 , financial year 24. For financial year Q2 , finance 24, decreased by 8.67%. For the half-year ended 30 September 2024, average crude oil realization is $82.09 per barrel vis-à-vis 82.22 barrel for the half-year ended 30 September 2023, which is decreased by 0.16%. Average natural gas price remains for the quarter has remained at $6.50 MMBtu.
The turnover for half-year ended 30 September 2024 has increased by 7.58% to INR 11,358.62 crore compared to INR 10,558.04 crore in half-year ended 30 September 2023, which is mainly due to higher crude oil and natural gas sale in half-year financial 25 compared to half-year financial 24. Average natural gas price for Q2, Q2 FY25 has remained unchanged at $6.55. The EBITDA margin for Q2 financial year 25 has decreased by 47.67% vis-à-vis 48.29% for Q2 FY24, which is mainly due to lower crude oil price. Profit after tax for Q2 financial 24-25 is 1834.07 crore vis-à-vis 325.31 crore for Q2 financial 23-24. The profit after tax for the half-year ended 30 September 2024 has increased by 70.26% to 3,300.91 crore vis-à-vis 1938.74 crore for the half-year ended 30 September 2023.
The earnings per share for the half-year ended 30 September 2024 is INR 20.29 per share vis-à-vis 11.92 for the half-year ended 30 September 2023. Now, I'm going to the financial performance of Numaligarh Refinery Limited. Profit after tax of Numaligarh Refinery Limited for Q2 financial year 24-25 is INR 175.05 crore vis-à-vis INR 735.51 crore during Q2 financial 23-24. Profit after tax for the half-year ended 30 September 2024 is INR 605.58 crore compared to INR 657.95 crore for the corresponding period last year. The gross refining margin during Q2 financial 24-25 is $2.25 barrels vis-à-vis $16.04 per barrel during Q2 financial year 23-24. Gross refining margin for the half-year ended 30 September 2024 is $4.45 barrels vis-à-vis $13.49 barrels for the half-year ended 30 September 2023.
EBITDA for Q2 financial year 2024-25 is INR 98.85 crore vis-à-vis INR 1,084.55 crore for the Q2 financial year 2023-24. While EBITDA for the half-year ended 30 September 2024 is INR 1132.5 crore vis-à-vis INR 1079.3 crore for the half-year ended 30 September 2023. The consolidated results, oil and gas turnover for the half-year ended 30 September 2024 is INR 17,456.79 crore vis-à-vis INR 15,225.23 crore for the half-year ended 30 September 2023. Consolidated profit after tax for the half-year ended 30 September 2024 is INR 4,085.46 crore vis-à-vis INR 2,039.85 crore for the half-year ended 30 September 2023. With this, my opening remarks on performance is over. We are now open to question and answer.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on their touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to use the handset while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will wait for a moment while the questions are assembled. The first question is from the line of Prabal Singh from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Thank you for the opportunity, sir. Just had a couple of questions. First was, what is the reason for the sequential dip a little bit that we have seen in the natural gas production in Q2?
Yeah, you're actually, your voice is not clear. Can you please repeat that question?
Sir, this is better? Am I audible now?
Yes, yes. Now you are audible. Please.
Yes, thanks. I was saying, sir, that first question was, what is the reason for the sequential decline, QoQ decline in gas production? Any color you can throw on this?
Yeah, please. Actually, this is Telco Burma, by the way, CJ Mobility for the operations. So what is happening in this period is a little bit of shutdown, especially NTPS, so number of thermal power stations and LTPS, Lakwa thermal power station. They take around 0.6 and 0.45 or something like that, around one MMSCMD. So during that period, during this Q2 period, they had a major shutdown, actually.
Okay.
They didn't operate. Also, NRL, what happened is that they had some surplus naphtha during this period. So NRL consumption was also a little bit low. APL also was from 27,800 to 39,000, almost 20 days, close to 20 days, they were having some emergency plant repair, actually. Low equipment. Basically, this is because of low equipment. It is not that we cannot produce. We could produce, but because this low equipment by the customers, because of that only, it happened.
So, sir, if I can ask a follow-up, in the Q3 , then have we seen a reversal of some of these conditions? So can we expect a pickup in offtake in the third quarter if the shutdowns are over and NRL surplus naphtha is also used up?
I think there are in this quarter, Q3 , in Q3 , I think there will be more uplift. But on the other hand, there will be a little bit of less upliftment by the TECADE because this is a lean season for the TECADE. So overall, I think there will be small increment, but I think it will go to the level of the earlier quarter or maybe a little bit more. Yes.
So for FY25, then overall, the guidance that we had of 3.2-3.3 BCM, if I remember correctly, that is still maintained? That's the kind of production we expect to still do?
That is maintained.
Sir, any guidance you can give for FY26 as of now?
For FY26, no, because we are in upgradation of many facilities, basically, and we are thinking about the pipeline from IGGL. All those things, unless they come, I think the situation will remain a little bit more or less like that, but overall, I think we will be able to go good once that IGGL line comes.
26, we don't have any guidance as of now on the gas production, would you say?
As of now, no. No thoughts. Only thing is that we can tell you about less of carrying, less of carrying because we have already installed a full-size pipeline. So this has improved. And the director, he also is coming.
Sorry, this is Saloma, E&D Exploration.
Hello, sir.
You are aware that the long-term vision of the company in the next few years is to achieve production close to 4 million tons of oil and 5 BCM of gas per year. That's a long-term vision which we envision to accomplish within the next couple of years. The general increase will definitely be there. The bottlenecks with respect to low upliftment of customers, etc., will be mainly offset by, like our CGM said, by the proposed IGGL pipeline which will come up. In the meantime, we are aggressively going for achieving zero flare by December 25. That is also going to be an increase in offtake where we see that there is potential requirement, additional requirement, even from existing customers. Year on year, you can expect that this 4%, 5% incremental growth in gas production and oil production will definitely continue.
Understood. So that's what I was looking for. One last question, if I may, on NRL. This quarter's under. Is it possible to share the GRM, including the excise duty benefit? I think the number shared was net of that.
Yeah. Actually, the GRM, which is reported by NRL, is always without excise benefit because that is the comparable GRM on Pan India basis. So excise duty is never included part of GRM reported by the refinery. Now, the GRM, which has been reported by NRL for this Q2 , is only $2.25 per barrel. But having said that, there is also an issue in this quarter in terms of the inventory loss, which is prevalent across the industry, actually, during this quarter. So the inventory loss is about $4.5 per barrel. So if you remove that, then the GRM would have been about $6.7, $6.6, $6.5, $6.7.
Similar to what it was last quarter.
Yeah. Yeah.
Okay, sir. I have more questions. I'll come back in the queue. Thank you so much.
No problem. Yeah.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kirtan Mehta from BOB Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Mr. Kirtan, your line has been unmuted. Please go ahead with your question.
Thank you, sir, for the opportunity. I also want to understand in terms of, while we had given up bio-by production growth on the oil side, the sales was a bio-by decline in the sales of oil. Could you explain the reasons for the sale?
That is the question.
Yeah. Actually, I'll answer that.
For the crude oil production, there has been a 4% YoY growth in this quarter. Against that, there has been a 1%-2% decline in the sales for the crude oil. What is the reason which has led to this YoY decline in the crude oil sales?
Yeah, yeah. Actually, last quarter, there was a NRL shutdown.
Actually, there was a small shutdown in NRL of about 10 to 15 days. So as a result of that, there has been a slight decline in the sales of crude oil, although there has been improvement in production.
Will we be able to sort of offset that additional inventory during the next quarter? Would the crude oil sales be higher by that amount?
Crude oil sales will improve because unless there is shutdown, there is no question of crude oil sales going down.
But refinery offtake depends on their operational issues and all. So if they don't have any issues, from our side, we'll be able to kind of create sales for us. Right. And what would be the are FY25 target for the crude oil? Would it remain unchanged?
Sorry?
Production target for the FY25 current year and next year.
Yeah, for the current year, the target, actually, we have created our own target.
3.9.
No. It will be 3.6, close to 3.6, yeah, 3.56 or something.
3.56 million tons for the crude oil. Natural gas is 3.2 to 3.3 BCM, correct?
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yes.
Our achievement will be a little higher, close to 3.45.
[audio distortion].
No, no. It will appear against the point.
No, gas will be 3.3.
Crude oil, crude oil, 3.5. Yeah, close to 3.5, 3.45 will be our achievement in the crude oil. 3.45-3.5.
Thanks. Could you also highlight the progress on the Indradhanush Gas Grid? Is it likely to get completed by December 24?
As far as Phase I is concerned, that is about 385 km, which is running from Guwahati to Numaligarh. That has already been mechanically completed. Okay. That nitrogen feeding has already been done for about 280 km or something. By December, they are saying that they will be able to start off with this Phase I.
For sort of the additional customers that we will be adding alongside the Phase I, have we already entered into the agreement with them now?
Phase I, see, Phase I is running from Guwahati to Numaligarh. So that line will not have any impact as far as Oil India is concerned because Oil India up to Numaligarh is catered by DNPL, which is also under upgradation and augmentation. So as far as up to Numaligarh line is concerned, definitely, they must be having some talk with GAIL with regard to the customer arrangement and all.
So we are having some talk.
Yeah.
From our perspective, which is the line which will, when would the sort of the augmentation of the line help us to start increasing the volumes?
Yeah. As far as Oil India is concerned, because we should be capable of evacuating the gas which is there with us in the Duliajan region. Okay. So as far as that gas is concerned, that will be able to evacuate once there is another line of about 116 km, 24-inch line, which will be coming from North Bank to up to Duliajan. So that will be an additional line. So once that line comes up to Duliajan, then we will be able to push the gas from Duliajan to our fullest potential.
Could you also share the current status on that line and target dates for completion?
That is about within two years' time, they are going to make it happen.
For next couple of years, would this mean that our natural gas production will remain more or less flat until and unless this line is complete?
That may not also be a correct statement for the reason that because DNPL line is also under augmentation. As you are aware, because Numaligarh refinery is under expansion, so they are expected date of completion is December 2024. Once this new refinery comes into full stream of operation, they will require additional gas, which as on that, they are taking 0.9-1 MMS CMD. That will ramp up to 2.5-3 MMS CMD. As a result, we cannot say that we have to bank on this IGGL only to increase our production.
NRL will be one of the key customers where we'll see the offtake increase. About the DNPL line, what would be the status and when is it likely to get?
DNPL line is going ahead with two phases, Phase I and Phase II. Phase I expected completion is March 2025, and Phase II is March 2026. So that is a INR 433 crore project that is also going ahead.
Right. And what would be the sort of offtake addition with the completion of Phase I in March 2025?
March 25, what will be the offtake?
Just to add on what Mr. Prabhujan said, actually, see, the Numaligarh refinery, their commissioning target is December 25, so the first Phase of this DNPL line, that total capacity, the increased capacity requirement for Numaligarh refinery is expected to be around three MMSCMD. Out of that, we are already transporting with the existing capacity, so the target is that by last quarter of next financial year, I mean the next calendar year, the DNPL first phase line will be activated, and because the mechanical completion will take some time, so by the time that DNPL line increased capacity of two MMSCMD comes into play, that will directly meet the increased requirement of Numaligarh refinery, so we can expect that the increase in volume may start from the last quarter of next financial year for the DNPL pipeline.
Right. So then the understanding would be basically this year's target and even the next year's target will be more or less flat, but we'll see a material increase in the gas offtake by around 2 MMSCMD as and when NRL starts taking the additional gas. Is that the right understanding?
Absolutely.
26, 27 onwards, we can expect substantial increase because then by that time, the IGGL, yeah, the capitalization will increase. The connectivity will increase. All the different gas grids that are developing in the Northeast region, they are also working parallelly. So the IGGL connectivity that will enhance oil gas production will basically serve the different gas grids under the CGD regime that are getting developed. So it will be the feeding line for all those CGDs across the Northeast.
Right, sir. Just one more question in terms of, could you also update on the progress on the NRL refinery? And what are the next milestones to track before sort of the commissioning of the refinery expansion?
Yeah. As far as the refinery expansion project is concerned, they have already achieved about 70% physical progress by now, and about more than INR 20,000 crores of capital CapEx has already been achieved out of INR 28,000 crores.
The target date still remains at December 25, basically, the commissioning.
Absolutely.
Is that a mechanical completion date, or is that sort of the commissioning date?
That is the commissioning.
So basically, pre-commissioning activity would start sometime in the first or second quarter of the FY26?
Yeah. Now, see, the moment the refinery is completed mechanically, it will not start in full stream from day one. So that will progressively increase. So say initial year might be starting with 50%-60% capacity, next year going up to 75%, then finally reaching 100%.
Right, sir. Thanks for such detailed answers. Very helpful. I'll go back to the queue.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address the questions from all the participants, please limit your questions to two per participant. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Vidyadhar Gende from Sohum Asset Managers Private Limited. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thank you. Good morning. It appears that your oil and gas production increase is mainly constrained by demand. And so as some pipelines get commissioned, Numaligarh refinery expansion gets commissioned, your production will increase. My question was that do you Numaligarh refinery expansion from three to nine? Even probably selling that 9 million ton also is probably demand for final petroleum products also is likely to be constrained. Is it easily possible for Numaligarh refinery to ramp up to whenever possible to 100% in two, three years, or demand constraints? Or is there a pipeline which can take the final finished products from Northeast to other parts of India?
So as far as the pipeline product evacuation part is concerned, there are two issues here. Are you talking about is their raw material procurement side or?
No, no, no. I'm talking of refining. My question really is that I am not very sure whether there is additional demand within Northeast for another 6 million tons, whatever production 5 million ton extra production. So that is the question. So can you produce that much and send it elsewhere in India? That is my question.
As far as that part is concerned, the product evacuation part is concerned, you are very correctly raising the question that whether this additional capacity, how it is going to be evacuated. As of now, if you are aware probably that our pipeline is being used by Numaligarh refinery for evacuation of their products from their Northeast to up to Siliguri. But that existing pipeline is having a capacity of 1.7 MMTPA. And that pipeline is being augmented from 1.7 MMTPA to 5.5 MMTPA. That is under progress. And that particular augmentation project is also going to coincide with the completion of the refinery expansion. So automatically, the additional capacity is being created to cater to the additional requirement of Numaligarh refinery once this capacity expansion is complete. So automatically, their additional product will mostly be evacuated through our pipeline only, which is under augmentation.
So this Siliguri, once the production, this incremental capacity expansion to Siliguri happens, can it go all over India wherever it wants to go? So is there?
Numaligarh refinery is also creating facilities in Siliguri terminal for additional tankages and loading-unloading facility, etc. So from there onwards, the products will move through either tankages or railway racks as of now, and they are also planning to put in place some pipeline which will be able to take the products up to the high demand areas in the eastern region.
That pipeline you will put or IOC or somebody else? Who is going to put that pipeline?
That pipeline will be put by Numaligarh only. So, they are on. This is under planning right now.
Okay. No problem. So basically, you are saying that because the pipeline to evacuate additional production is also going to be commissioned along with the refinery, as and when the refinery stabilizes, it can ramp up over a two-three-year period to 100%. And therefore, to that extent, your oil demand and gas demand will go up.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. So my second question was on your gas production. Some of your gas production is potentially eligible for this 20%. Is any of your gas production is going to happen in the next two, three years eligible for this higher 20% higher gas price? And that is can you give us some color on what proportion of your FY26 or 27 production could be eligible for this higher gas price?
Yeah. I think the $6.5 cap is for the APM gas. But as per the direction of the government, from April 23 onwards, whatever additional activity you do on the new gas that you produce, you will get a premium of 20% over the 6.5 cap that you have. And so we are working out various modalities like which are the fields, which are the wells from which this gas will be qualified as premium gas. And as of now, there are still some feeding technical issues which need to be sorted out with the regulatory body, which is the Director General of Hydrocarbons. And once they are sorted out, we will be able to come up with the exact figures like which are the gas and how much of the gas is currently available for the premium price. I think we don't have it right now.
So whatever increase in production will happen from here on, it will be in any case entitled to the higher gas prices, right? Because you are also guiding a big jump in your gas production in any case.
In fact, gas has to be produced from a new well or production through new well intervention. So if that happens, then even if we are producing from our own nomination field, that gas will be a higher price in the form of premium of 20%.
So, do you have any idea at what proportion of your production in, say, FY26 or 27, which is going to be here for FY26 now?
We are thinking of finding out those areas from where the production will qualify for the premium gas. That is currently on.
So, when can you give a better color? Will it take a few quarters for you to give us a more clear idea on that, on how much of your production? When do you think you would be able to guide us on what proportion of your output will get a higher price?
See, data is being shared with the ministry from time to time based on the requisition received from the ministry for their report to be finalized. So once the report comes, then only that quantification part will be possible. So for that, it is better not to give any mention of quantification price.
No, no. Thanks a lot and all the best. Thank you.
Yeah, actually. So this is going to take the amount of new gas will increase day by day because we are going for work, we are going for new interventions. That is for sure. Only thing is we are not able to tell you the quantity as of now because there are many.
Thanks. And just if I could add one more question. So how much of your most of the incremental oil I presume goes to Numaligarh, but in case of your incremental gas is 5 MMSCMD, in which you are talking, what proportion of this incremental gas is going to Numaligarh for the expansion?
That part I have already mentioned that Numaligarh refinery is presently picking up about 9 to 10 MMSCMD of gas from us.
Okay, so which are the other big consumers potentially?
In capacity, they would be requiring 2.5-3 MMSCMD.
Correct. Now, which are other big consumers of gas which might over the next two years other than Numaligarh?
APL capacity is likely to get increased.
How much more they will consume?
And there will be larger demand from the CGD entity because the entire Northeast CGD blocks have already been awarded. So once the CGD entities become functional, they would be also increasing our gas.
Okay. Thanks a lot. Thank you very much.
Yeah.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, you may press star and one to ask a question. The next question is from the line of S. Ramesh from Nirmal Bang Equities. Please go ahead.
Good morning and thank you very much. So can you give us some sense in terms of your plans in the city gas distribution and biogas? And is it going to be included in the segment called renewable energy in terms of reporting?
After the 12th and 12th A round of bidding, we have actually got nine geographical areas in all. So out of those nine geographical areas, three are already functional. Those are in Maharashtra and Haryana. That is the geographical area of Kolhapur, Ambala, and Kurukshetra, where we are already producing and we have a steady market over there. In addition to that, we have got a geographical area in Tripura. Yes. We have a CGD in Tripura, and we also have a CGD in Manipur. So these are in GA, I think.
Not broken too.
Not broken too. These are the CGDs where we have our own interest. Our CGDs are already in the process of laying the network there. Even though the CGD, even though the IGGL network is yet to come, but we are at our end doing everything possible so that once the IGGL network is commissioned, we can immediately draw gas from that network and run it through our own venture so that we can create a market for ourselves. Parallelly, we are setting up CNG stations in those areas. I think two of the CNG stations in Tripura, which are currently being run by GAIL, we have tied up with them, and we will be supplying our gas to those CNG stations, which will immediately become functional. These are some of the things that we are doing in the Northeast for enhancing our sales volume.
As far as CBG is concerned, we are committed to set up 25 CBG stations, out of which what we have done so far is that we have identified a few technology partners with whom we will be setting up one CBG station in Tinsukia, Assam. That has reached some level of finality. And other CBG stations also we are thinking of setting up. But that would take a little bit of time because CBG has to be spiked with the natural gas. Those things we are currently working on, and possibly in the days ahead, we'll be able to come up with some additional information on this.
Okay. So out of these nine GAs, how many GAs are on your own standalone? How many GAs?
Standalone, none. We are having partnership with HPCL mostly. And in the Arunachal GA, we are having partnership with AGCL.
So in terms of your capital allocation, you have showed about INR 2,000 crores of CapEx, out of which INR 1,400 crores is for your E&P business. So where is this E&P CapEx going? And can you share how much of that will be for these nomination blocks where you can get 20% premium? So although you may not be able to give the volume on which you will get that 20% premium, you would have done some basic working for the internal rate of return, right? So you are spending so much more money. Is it possible to say where this INR 1,400 crores and the other capital expenditures going based on whatever you have shared?
Your question is on CapEx.
Yes. Yeah. Indeed. Cash flow, you're given INR 1,430 crores for E&P and other capital expenditure of INR 4,700 crores. Can you share where it went?
I mean, you cannot really go in on any one particular area. It could be oil, it could be gas, it could be other areas as well. Now, your question is specifically on gas, I believe. Is that your question?
Sir, you are spending INR 6,000 crore. You already spent INR 6,000 crore in first half. So if you can share what is the split for this CapEx in terms of the projects on which you are spending, it will be useful for us to understand which business you are investing in.
Just give us a moment.
See, the next three years' CapEx projection for Oil India on a go-forward basis will be in the range of around Rs 6,000-7,000 crore. And on a go-forward basis, if you consider renewable refinery, it can be around Rs 10,000-12,000 crore. Now, out of the Rs 6,000 crore, mainly, if you see the trend, around 75% of the CapEx is directed towards the upstream initiatives of the company. And the balance, we are going to phase away, allocating towards the other initiatives and also including the renewables, the CBG, the CGD space, all that there are partial allocations towards this space also. Now, on the upstream initiative part, as we've been doing that, we have got areas of around 20,000 square kilometers plus under the OALP regime. And in many of the areas, we have already completed the seismic part.
We have got extensive drilling plans. I just like to highlight that our target for this year is almost around 70-plus wells. A lot of CapEx is diverted towards the upstream part for the development drilling and also exploratory drilling. You will be aware that Oil India is now planning for the offshore drilling in Andaman. There will be a part allocation to the Andaman offshore initiative as well out of the current CapEx. For a broader guideline, you can say that around 75% is towards the upstream initiative, which will include drilling plans in our North East in the main producing area in the different other regions like Rajasthan and also in Mahanadi Basin. One portion is a particular few of the wells in the offshore region of Andaman. We are targeting Q4 to start the drilling plans in Andaman.
Now, mid-November?
Yeah, mid-November, we are starting the drilling activity in offshore Andaman.
So, how much of your E&P CapEx out of this 75%?
So you want the hard numbers?
Yeah, so out of this 75%, you are spending on the upstream.
Broadly, my colleague has explained, we'll be spending about INR 7,000 crore in the current year. The heads are seismic survey, exploration, drilling, development. Then we'll be investing in our subsidiaries. As I've explained, we have about 25 CBG stations to be set up. So all of these will be spent on these heads.
That's fine.
Exploration cost would be more than INR 2,000 crore. My development would be close to INR 1,400 crore, a little more than INR 1,400 crore. Other oil and gas facilities, etc., will attract another INR 2,300 crore. This is the broad breakup of the INR 7,000 crore that we are projecting.
Yeah, understood. Just to get some perspective on Vidyadhar's question on the potential for additional production from the nomination wells for getting that 20% premium, is any of this development expenditure going towards the increase in production in new wells or additional well interventions in the nomination blocks? Just to understand what your thought process is there.
Yes. What we are currently doing is that we are in the process of exploring those areas which will qualify as new wells or through new well intervention. Actually, we will have to kind of qualify those two conditions to get that extra premium. If that doesn't happen, then our gas will be like normal gas. So that would take some time. However, money will be spent on new wells as well.
So how much of that expenditure will be in the new wells? Just to understand.
No, like the President mentioned, that in 2024, 2025, exploratory drilling, INR 2,000 crore is projected. So this exploration drilling doesn't necessarily mean rank exploration in new areas. So what we do is chunk of our exploration, we also do in our nominated region in terms of near-field exploration. And therefore, you will see that the exploration wells that we drill are not only in the rank exploration areas or in the OLP blocks, but it's also qualified exploration for near-field exploration. And that's why in the near-field exploration, in the nominated region itself, you will have some exploration wells. And chunk of the development wells where it is earmarked at INR 700 crore is the budget. Now, for development drilling, you know that 99% of the crude oil comes from nominated regions in the Northeast, apart from about 600 barrels from Rajasthan.
Majority of this development drilling will also be held in the nominated blocks in Assam and Arunachal. All these wells which will be drilled as development wells or exploration wells in the nominated regions will be eligible. The additional gas will be eligible for a premium 20% gas.
Okay. So your CapEx provides for some capital expenditure in the nomination block. That's why I wanted to confirm. Okay. Thank you very much.
Actually, majority of it will be there only.
Okay.
Actually, we always have mostly around three non-essential gas in our CGD. Around three. Minimum three non-essential gas we target. So new gas, if we talk about new energy gas, we generally target three wells.
Thank you very much. I'll join the.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, in order to ensure that the management is able to address the questions from all the participants, please limit your questions to one per participant. I repeat, please limit your questions to one per participant. Thank you. The next question is from the line of Mayank from Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead.
Hi, sir. Thank you for doing the call. I had a follow-up question on the CapEx itself. Can you just, I think you gave a bit of detail around the breakup of the CapEx that you're doing, but can you also give us a bit of a breakup of how much goes into Rajasthan, what goes into Assam, Duliajan, and what will kind of go into Andaman that you're kind of planning, and how much could be overseas that you'll have to do your equity contribution as?
So if you request some detailed breakup in terms of the areas where this CapEx is going to be spent, so that can be addressed separately. We are not readily prepared with that breakup as of now.
Okay. Sure. So I think I'll just follow up on that. The second thing was in terms of your NRL CapEx, you said INR 200 billion of the 280 has been spent, correct?
Yes.
Can you just give us the total net debt that you have is now sitting at NRL's balance sheet?
That's all. NRL debt is right now, it is around more than INR 11,500 crores.
Okay. Got it. Perfect. So that's all the questions I have. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Sabri Hazarika from Emkay Global Financial Services. Please go ahead.
Yeah. So just two questions. Firstly, I think your provision and the driver that went up around INR 200 crore quarter on quarter. Can you tell us exactly in what effect this has happened?
Actually, your voice was not very clear. Can you?
Yeah. I got to know what you want to understand, actually. Actually, this quarter, we have taken a write-off of about INR 72 crore on account of a well sitting in Puri. Okay. That is INR 72 crore is the straight away write-off. And apart from that, another INR 270 crore, yeah, INR 270 crore, INR 297 crore, we have taken provision in respect of 13 wells.
In respect of which wells?
There are about five wells. Five wells we have taken provision of about INR 297 crore. So that includes basically one well in Moran, one well in South Dakwal, one in Dima Hasao, one in Ashoknagar, one is Malikberia. So these are the five wells against which about INR 290-odd crore has been taken as provision. Apart from that, write-off of INR 72 crore on account of that Puri well.
Puri well is part of OALP, right? And the others are like part of nominated, right?
I mean, some of them are NELP blocks.
Some of them are NELP blocks.
These are NELP blocks.
With ONGC.
With ONGC is our partner, and one, I think, is an OALP block that is Dima Hasao and rests on our nomination areas.
Two nominations.
Two nominations.
Got it. And so just a small question. You mentioned Phase I and Phase II of DNPL. So Phase II, I could understand by 2026, the entire NRL scope will get augmented. hase I will be what? By 2025 March, what are you trying to achieve in Phase I?
[crosstalk]Phase I is basically having a scope of 55-kilometer area, and apart from that, in the Phase II, there are many other jobs which are lined up. That will give the final shape to the project, actually.
55-kilometer but it connects only with the customer or it's like just a?
That is only exclusively for DNPL, right? Only nominated.
Okay. No, I mean 55 km is not like right thing. I mean, I was just wondering 55 km with 55 km can there be any incremental volume? PREP is after some tool only.
Sorry, just to explain, this is deposit here. Just to explain, actually, this DNPL project, one part is the expansion of the capacity and one part is basically an upliftment of the current facilities based on certain observations and some extensive repairing activities also that was taken out within the same project. So the project is that is why phased into two phases. But first, the repairing and major repairing part will be carried out. And then at the same time, capacity expansion part is also simultaneously going on. The repairing part will be completed in the first leg, basically. And then the capacity expansion is tied up in sync with the expected date of commissioning of Numaligarh Refinery.
So what we expect that by end of next financial year, by mid the first phase will be over, but that will not help all to enhance the capacity because this is a standalone line going for feeding NRL gas requirement. So once the entire project gets completed towards the later part of next year, then the additions of gas evacuation will start once Numaligarh Refinery commissions and regime gets stabilized.
Got it. Very clear. Thank you so much, sir.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Hardik Solanki from ICICI Securities. Please go ahead.
Yeah. [Foreign language].
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Kirtan Mehta from BOB Capital Markets. Please go ahead. Mr. Kirtan, your line has been unmuted. Please go ahead with your question.
Thanks for the one more opportunity. Just one question to understand the capital intensity of the well workover programs and new well programs that we are doing. Would you be able to highlight how the capital intensity or our CapEx efforts have ramped up in the nomination block?
Actually, as far as exploration and development programs are concerned, we earmark more than 55%-60% of our budget, total CapEx, on account of addressing those exploration and development activities. So right away, I don't have the exact breakup of what you are asking. But as far as CapEx, this critical concern, more than 60% of the CapEx goes on account of this exploration and development efforts. Thank you for this.
My question was more from the perspective that for us, basically, I think the production growth has been constrained primarily by the demand and not necessarily by sort of the additional CapEx investments required in the existing trade. And the incentive scheme of 20% extra premium on the gas is primarily to sort of support the additional capital intensity in the legacy field. So is it really applicable for us, this new well gas provision, because our capital intensity is not really sort of rising?
As far as new well production is concerned, the demand is not constrained by CapEx, obviously, because the demand is not constrained by the demand. Because as you know, Northeast is having more than 7.5 MMTPA capacity refining capacity, whereas the total production in the Northeast is about 4-4.5 MMSCMD. So there is a surplus capacity available. So the moment I can produce my gas, the crude oil will immediately find its growth. So there is no issue as far as crude oil is concerned. But yes, as far as gas is concerned, the production is constrained by demand as long as. But demand can be unlocked the moment these facilities are in place. And majority of the facilities are in terms of this IGGL company and DNPL company, not necessarily at our end.
Now, there is another thing that we are also trying to implement, that's why, and I think Oil India is going to be the first in the country to do it. Actually, we have done it earlier as well. Now, in order to address this issue of constrained production, because when we produce gas, in some of the fields, we also produce some bit of condensate along with the gas, so if I have to shut down a couple of gas wells because of low upliftment by the customers, I'm also losing out on some of the production of oil in terms of the condensate which comes along with the gas. And therefore, we address this problem of the IGGL line, which will come. It will take another couple of years. But we cannot afford to lose even a single drop or barrel of oil.
That's the reason we have taken up this initiative that we will have a facility for underground gas storage. So this is something which we are planning to undertake on a war footing. We have already identified a couple of wells or reservoirs where we will try to implement this strategy. So whenever there is a shortage or there is a requirement for curtailing your gas production, we will not curtail, per se, but we will still produce and we will still produce the additional oil also with the gas. Whatever gas gets produced, we will inject it back to the reservoir for storage. It's like oil storage, but here we're talking about the gas storage. Later on, when the demand requires, we can even produce back the reservoir. This unique concept, we are right now going to implement.
We are going to be the first in the country to do it. ONGC is also eyeing for it. But then these are a few of the steps that we are already taking so that our production levels are sustained at the desired levels.
Thank you, sir, for this call.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Somaiah V from Avendus Spark. Please go ahead.
Thanks for the opportunity, sir. Somaiah is calling. First question, sir, in terms of the 30% equity contribution for NRL expansion CapEx, how much have we contributed so far? How much remains?
We have already contributed about INR 1,100 crores.
Sorry? We have contributed so far INR 1,100 crores?
1,100 crores we have already contributed.
Sorry, sir. Why is it not clear, sir?
Out of INR 1,100 crore, we have already contributed. Yeah, definitely, as the promoter's contribution, our total commitment towards the NRL project is INR 2,200 crore, and this is split into four cash calls, so first two cash calls, actually, we have already paid off INR 550 crore, so the total cumulative investment as a promoter to the refinery CapEx for the project is INR 1,100 crore as of date. The third cash call also we have received, and that will be disbursed sometime by December, so by the end of this financial year, up to December, 1,100 plus 550, and then based on the development of the project, as and when we get the balance cash call request from the refinery, that will be paid. Our total commitment is INR 2,200 crore.
Okay. And also, CapEx for NRL, let's say after next year, when the expansion is started, and what will be the CapEx run rate post that?
See, NRL CapEx, actually, the total refinery project cost is 22,000 crores, and that is, again, getting revised after the formal approval is availed. But it is expected to be around 33,000 crores. Now, there is already a debt arrangement of 18,000 crores by the refinery. And the increased cost will be made from some additional debt drawdown, as well as maybe some additional internal accruals also may contribute to that. Now, as we have already mentioned, that the total drawdown that has been done is around 11,000 crores out of the 18,000 crores capacity. The CapEx, that is for 2024, 2025, they have planned the phase-wise CapEx. And for the current year, 2024, 2025, the planned CapEx is around 10,000 crores. And it will be at that level for the next year also, because they have to complete the target is to complete the refinery by December 2025.
Okay, sir. One clarification here. So the revised CapEx for NRL expansion will be INR 32,000 crores. That's the updated number.
I mean, that is awaiting ministry approval. So what is approved as of now is INR 28,000 crores. There is a revision. The revision proposal is with the ministry. The approval is yet to be received.
Okay. Sir, also, I was just trying to understand post-expansion, once all the 9MMT comes up fully ramped up, what would be the run rate CapEx required for NRL in case we have?
Actually, Numaligarh Refinery is having another project in hand. That is the Petchem project, so for that project also, they have received the approval, and that will be around INR 7,000 crores. And this Petchem project is actually a few of the physical activities are simultaneously done with the refinery project itself, because it is an integrated project. Most of the refineries are taking up this kind of project now, considering the change in the scenario, and so what we can see that, yes, after the 9 million capacity is reached, definitely the refinery has to give more focus on streamlining the inward supply chain, outward supply chain for the 9 million refinery, but at the same time, the next CapEx, major CapEx that is in plan is the Petchem project. The approved cost for that is INR 7,000 crores, and the time requirement is three years from the approval date.
And the approval is what we have understood is recently received. So you can say that in another three years' time, the Petchem project will come up. And it will be phased depending on the funding availability, how the additional capacity is marketed. So it will be a combination in that way. But if you ask me what is the next phase of CapEx, that will be the Petchem project with the INR 7,000 crores CapEx.
Got it. Sir, what will be the product plan in this Petchem project? So would it be LTP, HTP, or what is it?
On the technicality part, we cannot comment right now.
Sorry. Just.
360 KTPA.
Sorry, sir? Capacity?
360 KTPA, yeah.
Okay. Sir, also, just a couple of clarifications. One, this new well intervention gas pricing, so does the $6.5 ceiling apply to this, or is it just that 10% of crude and then 20% premium to it? How does it?
As per our understanding, premium will be charged on the ceiling, which is $6.5.
Okay, so if you say $6.5.
If premium is charged on any price lower than $6.5, then possibly the impact.
I was looking at, I mean, there's another possibility that if the ceiling is not applied and the crude is at $73.
I don't know if pricing is concerned. That is not for nomination blocks of OIL and ONGC. So for OIL and ONGC nomination block, they are maintaining a cap. And that cap is valid till 31st March 2025. Yes, from April 2025, we will be getting 25% premium over and above the 6.5. So it would be an alternate pricing 6.75 coming April. So as far as the premium, 20% is concerned. As far as our understanding goes, that will be applicable only 6.5 as of now. And just would like to also highlight one point. All this CapEx, the one part is targeted towards our main producing area, the nomination fields. And one part is for towards the OALP regime, the blocks that we are having under OALP regime.
Now, if we have any gas discoveries in the OALP regime, then the price restriction is not applicable for that part of the gas production. So I think in your number simulation, of course, it's an ongoing process. I think it takes around typically five to 10 years. But what we would like to highlight is that not the entire CapEx is going towards only towards this 6.5 or 20% premium. Part of the CapEx is also moving towards the OALP regimes, where the gas, if we have any discovery, that will be at a very higher price. There is no 6.5 restriction. Marketing freedom in respect of the gas produced from those areas. If it is DSF OALP, so there is no restriction.
Going forward, say after another two, three years, once the IGGL line comes and we are connected to the national grid, then we can also see the possibility of connecting additional gas through the IGGL platform. Because that gas demand is always there, we are also in touch with the IGGL team. All these additional avenues will come once the IGGL connectivity and the Northeast connectivity with the national grid is achieved.
Got it. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we'll take this as the last question. I now hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.
This is the last?
Yes, sir.
So thank you very much, Antique, for organizing this phone call interaction. We hope we have been able to satisfy the queries of the parties. And thanks once again. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Antique Stock Broking Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining them, and you may now disconnect your lines. Thank you.