ONGC gets better price for crude oil under new rules, says report

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp has for the first time sold oil through a three-month local tender, commanding $5-$8 per barrel more than existing rates under new rules that allow producers marketing freedom, industry sources said.

ONGC, the country’s top oil explorer, accepted bids at that level through auction of light sweet oil from its western offshore field, including supplies from the country’s flagship Mumbai High fields, they said.

In June India abolished a rule that said oil from blocks awarded prior to 1999 must be sold to government-nominated customers, mostly state refiners. That meant producers such as ONGC and Oil India often sold oil from those blocks at below market rates.