About ONGC 

It is a public sector petroleum company in India, contributing 77% of India’s crude oil production. 

Revenue (2008-09): 161263 million 

Employees: 41000 

Recent news: 

· ONGC achieve highest Reserve accretion in last two decades. 

· ONGC conferred with two SCOPE meritorious awards on the PSU day. 

· India's ONGC lags in global oil race. ONGC's setbacks in acquiring major oil resources are made worse by the Indian government's order to help shoulder the burden of subsidised fuels earlier this year, which pushed the country's biggest refiners into the red. 

· ONGC has gained junior shares in a host of projects, from Russia's Sakhalin-1, Iran's Yadavaran Field and Sudanese properties abandoned by Western investors. 

· But it has yet to take a lead role that would give it more say and a bigger share of future production. The race is gaining urgency both for India and ONGC as Chinese and other Asian competitors snap up plum properties in the face of stagnating domestic production. 

· Government officials say ONGC must boost its reserve-to-production ratio - the number of years its reserves will last with the current level of output - by improving its drilling technology and management practices. ONGC's ratio is 22 years. In some onland areas the ratio is 57 years. 

· ONGC lost a major offshore platform at Bombay High, India's largest oilfield, reducing the company's output by 123,000 barrels per day (bpd) after an errant rig crashed into the facility during the monsoon, setting it on fire. It has since restored half that production. 

· Oil Minister Mr Aiyar has pushed for Indian and Chinese firms to cooperate not compete, for overseas assets, but his efforts appear to have met with little interest in Beijing, where the oil majors are gaining ground abroad, despite some hiccups.