Oil India's New Profit Engine

Ranjit Rath takes to new techniques to monetise discoveries, upgrades infrastructure, boosting the market cap of the Maharatna CPSE.

- Chitranjan Kumar

OIL INDIA has had an unforgettable FY24. The country’s second-largest state-owned oil and gas producer received the ‘Maharatna’ status in August 2023, making it the youngest and the 13th Maharatna central public sector enterprises (CPSE). The upgraded status will help the six-decade-old company take financial decisions on large investments on its own.

Led by Ranjit Rath, a man with over 27 years in geosciences, who took charge on August 2, 2022, the PSU achieved the highest-ever oil & oil equivalent of gas (O+OEG) as well as natural gas production last fiscal, thanks to the adoption and use of new techniques to arrest decline from old fields, monetisation and quick development of new discoveries, production optimisation, and upgradation of surface facilities & infrastructure. It also led to Oil India’s highest-ever drilling — a total of 61 wells in FY24, including 17 exploratory and 44 development wells.

In terms of stock performance, Oil India turned a multibagger in 2024 and consistently outperformed the sector as well as benchmark indices, something that’s rare in the energy space which has a track record of underperforming more often than not. The oil and gas heavyweight has delivered 210% returns to its shareholders in the last one year and 135% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis (as of September 18), with market capitalisation crossing ₹1 lakh crore, thanks to strong earnings, improved margins, and efficient management.