Dear Shareholders,
It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all, on behalf of the Board of Directors,
to the 56th Annual General Meeting of ONGC Videsh Limited.
The Annual Report of the Company for the Financial Year ending 31st March
2021, along with the Board's Report, Audited Annual Accounts, Auditors' Report and
Management
Discussion & Analysis Report are already in your hands. With your permission, I
consider them as read.
To begin with, let me spend a few minutes briefly outlining the global industry
environment during the year:
Industry Scenario:
The Oil & Gas industry is going through one of the most critical and transformative
phases. Since it first broke out in late 2019, COVID-19 pandemic today has drastically
affected individuals, economies and businesses. Several countries have responded by
implementing repeated lockdowns and frequent closure of workplaces to combat the pandemic.
The lockdowns have had an adverse impact on crude oil demand and the industry, both in
short as well as in long term. However, we in the energy industry know that every such
crisis triggers human ingenuity and collaborative spirit to calibrate investment plans,
reduce operating losses and improve efficiency within the given constraints.
While slowdown of economic growth in emerging economies coupled with the ongoing
concerns on climate change, carbon taxation, environmental governance, the growth of EVs
and Renewables have impacted the traditional model of E&P industry in ways not
witnessed hitherto, on the positive side, industry has responded to these difficult times
with enhanced grit to sustain operations, better co-operation amongst the stakeholders,
financial prudence, technological and managerial innovations.
The industry has gained substantially from innovations and technology upgradations.
Lower oil prices induced by severe demand contraction in early days of the pandemic have
resulted in cutting the flab. The industry is also learning to survive through innovative
and out-of-the-box thinking processes. Across the industry, from international oil majors
to NOCs to independent producers, rapid cost optimisation through increased efficiency has
helped sustain through the difficult times. The industry is seeing new benchmarks everyday
in scope optimization, deferring non-essential capex without compromising on operational
deliverables, capturing cost deflation in the market through negotiations, competitive
bidding, leveraging currency fluctuations and increasing local content, and optimizing
resources including revisiting opex estimates. The greenshoots of revival are now evident,
and 2021 has witnessed crude oil prices rising to post-pandemic daily highs at nearly
$70/barrel in May-2021, caused by a renewed uptick in demand.
Technology will play a very critical role for all the companies to survive in the near
term. To remain competitive during this time of significant change, energy providers need
to optimize and automate the processes across the value chain through increased adoption
of digital technologies. With new digital technologies, it is becoming possible for
companies to gather and analyze data across assets and business systems to enable faster
and informed decision making, more flexible, and more efficient processes. Remote
monitoring and remote diagnosis of process issues through digitization has become the most
common strategy, particularly during this pandemic. Digitization is also helping companies
in advancing the clean energy transition. It is not only helping companies to survive the
current crisis, but is also building a stronger foundation to unlock new opportunities for
sustainable growth and increased shareholder value.
Accelerated diversification to allied verticals and adoption of new business models for
new revenue streams is appearing as another area of focus for the E&P sector. Thus,
though the pandemic impacted the oil and gas industry throughout the 2020-21 fiscal, its
cascading impact on the industry in the years to come will be an important factor in
deciding the future course of strategic direction.
Looking out beyond today's crisis toward the late 2030s, the macro-environment is
expected to remain challenging. The upstream cost curve is expected to remain flat and
energy transition is expected to gather increased momentum. While geopolitical risks are
likely to continue to be a major factor influencing supply, new sources of low-cost,
short-cycle supply are expected to reduce the amplitude and duration of price fly-ups.
Supported by continued demand growth in the coming decade, gas and LNG are projected to
play a positive role in the energy transition, occupying a bigger pie in the energy mix of
the future.
The challenge of energy transition will however remain. While cost-reducing innovations
for wind, solar and batteries continue, decarbonization pressure for the industry will be
imperative. Your Company by virtue of its footprint across several countries and fiscal
systems, is conscious of the fact that falling oil and gas prices will mean lower take
from the upstream industry for various host governments. Fiscal changes for increased
protection of domestic cash flows may be an amplified focus for the host governments. Your
Company is aware of such churn in the industry and is continuously factoring critically
potential sources of value and shifting industry dynamics in the evolving industry
scenario.
Notwithstanding the twists and turns in the market, your consistent belief in our
growth story and enduring association with us is what keeps us motivated to emerge as a
more valuable company while bringing greater benefits to the society. At the successful
closure of yet another financial year, I express my gratitude for this much valued
support. Look forward to continuing this journey and achieving greater heights together.
Performance:
I would, now like to take you through your Company's performance in the fiscal year
2021-21. Significant performance highlights since last Annual General Meeting are as
under:
Your Company has produced about 2.5 lakh barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day
during FY'21 and has total oil and gas (2P) reserves of about 490.473 MMToe as on 1st
April 2021.
The production shortfall as compared to previous fiscal year was primarily due to the
Projects in Russia, UAE and Azerbaijan getting impacted by compliance to agreed-upon
production cuts by the host governments of OPEC+ group of countries, besides the
geopolitical situation in Venezuela and the general impact of COVID-19.
On the financial front, however, your Company has quadrupled its profit to 18,910
million during FY'21 as compared to 4,540 million during previous year.
Your Company's consolidated net worth has increased to 5,03,064 million as on 31st
March, 2021 compared to 4,93,837 million in the previous year. Your Company has played an
increasingly important role in the ONGC group and has an ambitious target of substantially
increasing its production. Your Company has adopted both organic and inorganic methods for
increasing production to meet the challenging targets. Your Company has a presence in
various geographies and is always on the lookout for attractive E&P assets across the
globe. It has earned global reputation in the international E&P arena and hence
receives substantial number of offers for its consideration. Your Company's focus is on
acquiring medium to large-sized near term producing and/or discovered assets, across the
world with material oil and gas reserves.
Striving towards the organizational goals, the resumption activities of production
after prolonged shutdown since 2013 from two projects of South Sudan viz, Greater Pioneer
Operating Company (GPOC) & Sudd Petroleum Operating Company (SPOC) Block 5A; and also
exploration success at Block CPO-5, Colombia, Mahar block in A1&A3, Myanmar; block BM
Seal-4, Brazil have provided a boost to the organic growth of the Company. The future
outlook of the Company remains bright with focus on stable portfolio of production,
development and exploratory assets. The outlook will be brighter, if there is significant
improvement in crude oil prices leading to healthy cash accruals
Corporate Governance:
Your Company is compliant with all applicable provisions of the Companies Act, 2013 and
DPE Guidelines on Corporate Governance, 2010. Your Company is implementing the tenets of
Corporate Governance in letter and spirit. Your Company accords highest importance to
transparency, accountability and equity in all facets of its operation.
International Alliances:
Your Company has executed the extended MOU with GeoPark Limited, a Latin America
centric E&P company, on 12th February 2021 for three years with the
objective to jointly acquire, invest and create value from upstream oil and gas
opportunities and jointly build large-scale, economically-profitable and risk-balanced
portfolio of multiple upstream oil and gas assets and/or their operations across Latin
America.
Your Company shall continue to increasingly engage in such alliances through agreements
and Joint Ventures.
Acknowledgements:
Before I conclude, I express my gratitude to esteemed shareholders, my colleagues on
the Board of Directors and to all other stake holders for their valuable support, advice,
cooperation and trust placed in the Company and look forward to their continued patronage.
I am also thankful for the whole- hearted support received from ONGC, our parent company
and Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas, Ministry of External Affairs, other
Ministries, Departments, Regulatory Authorities and Agencies of the Government of India,
Indian Embassies and Missions abroad, and the various State Governments. I place on record
our appreciation for our joint venture partners and vendors for their cooperation. I also
place on record my appreciation for all the Regulatory Authorities in foreign countries
for their guidance and support.
I, on behalf of the entire Board of Directors, sincerely place on record my
appreciation for the excellent work done by all the employees of the Company, and applaud
their commitment and hard work that has helped in delivering another successful year for
the Company.
I look forward to your continued support in this journey and am confident that with its
sustainable track record and global reputation, your Company will continue to achieve new
heights of success by harnessing new growth opportunities.
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With best compliments, |
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(Subhash Kumar) |
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Chairman |
Dated: 16th September, 2021 |
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Place: New Delhi |
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