Natural gas prices cut by steep 26%; huge dent in ONGC revenues

Natural gas prices on Tuesday were cut by a steep 26 per cent to its lowest rate since the pricing was made formula-driven in 2014, a move that is likely to translate into lower CNG and piped cooking gas prices but also make a huge dent in revenues of producers such as ONGC.

Oil Ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) said the bulk of India's existing gas production will be priced at USD 2.39 per million British thermal unit for the six-month period beginning April 1, down from USD 3.23 as of now.

This will be the second reduction in six months to the lowest since 2014.

The price of gas produced from difficult fields such as deepsea too has been cut to USD 5.61 from USD 8.43 per mmBtu now.

Prices of natural gas, which is used to produce fertiliser and generate electricity and is also converted into CNG for use in automobiles as fuel and cooking gas for households, are set every six months -- on April 1 and October 1 each year.