Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) and BG Exploration and Production India Limited (BGEPIL) announced today that they have reached agreement to jointly operate three offshore deepwater exploration blocks on the east coast of India.

Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd. (MRPL) a subsidiary of ONGC, has bagged the First Prize under Group-I, in the prestigious ‘Jawaharlal Nehru Centenary Awards for overall Energy Performance of Refineries' for the year 2004-05.

OMEL entered into an MoU with the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, on behalf of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in Abuja on 10th November, 2005, in the presence of an Indian delegation of Public Sector Enterprises led by Mr. Talmiz Ahmed, Addl. Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum & NG, Government of India.

Highlights of the 2nd quarter results of MRPL:

The ONGC Board of Directors will meet on Wednesday, the October 26, 2005 at New Delhi, inter-alia, to consider and take on record the Un-audited Financial Results (Provisional) for the quarter ended on September 30, 2005 pursuant to Clause 41 of the Listing Agreement.

The GSBA Top Rankers Achievers Award was conferred upon Dr. A K Balyan, Director (HR), ONGC at New Delhi this morning for his invaluable contribution in the field of management. These awards are presented annually to top achievers in the corporate world by Top Rankers, a reputed management consultant in association with Graduate School of Business & Administration (GSBA), a leading Business School.

While reporting on LPG cooking gas availability, statements alleging shortfall in supply from ONGC have been quoted in the media.

Two definite agreements were signed between India 's Most Valuable Company, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) and Mittal Investment Sarl. – the investment holding arm of Mittal Steel, world's largest Steel Company, to form ONGC Mittal Energy Ltd. (OMEL) and ONGC Mittal Energy Services (OMESL).

Petro Vietnam had invited global competitive bids for 9 offshore exploration blocks in the 2004 Licensing Round. These blocks are located in Phu Khanh Basin, Eastern Cuu Long Basin and Nam Con Son Basin.

ONGC is progressing on fast-track to tap deep-seated energy resources by establishing two pilots for Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) – one in Coal and another in Lignite.

The Blow Out at ONGC exploratory Well – PSAR drilled by E-1400-20 Rig which caught fire yesterday, has been completely extinguished. The Rig crew were safely evacuated without any injury. Efforts by the Asset group along with the experts of Crisis Management Team helped in reducing the flame which was finally extinguished today morning. The control measures for killing the well with heavy mud is being executed as a prelude to final capping.

The search and rescue operation continues at Mumbai High, by deploying support and supply vessels, helicopters, Navy and Coast Guard aircrafts.

ONGC's Offshore Platform BHN has suffered a major accident on Wednesday, July 27, 2005 afternoon. A multi-purpose support vessel of ONGC under SCI operation was reported on fire. Personnel have abandoned chartered rig Noble Charlie Yester which was deployed in the vicinity.

Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL), a subsidiary of ONGC, has reported a net profit of Rs. 216 Crore in the first quarter of fiscal 2005-06, up 93 per cent from the figure of Rs. 112 Crore for the same period last fiscal.

The ONGC Board has decided to pay the highest-ever dividend of Rs. 5704 Crore @ 400 per cent for the fiscal 2004-05. Out of this, 200 per cent has already been paid as interim dividend. This takes the dividend payout go up 67 per cent from last year’s figure of Rs. 3422 Crore.

ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL), a 100% subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) has earned highest-ever consolidated net profit of Rs. 761 Crore after accounting for corporate taxes of Rs. 680 Crore (including Rs. 259 Crore on account of deferred tax liabilities) for the financial year ended March 31, 2005 compared to Rs. 428 Crore during the last year, up 78%. The consolidated gross revenue increased by 72% from Rs. 3,502 Crore to Rs. 6,026 Crore during the same period.

The World Environment Foundation has conferred the prestigious Golden Peacock Eco-Innovation Award 2005 on Ahmedabad Asset of ONGC.

The TERI Award for Corporate Social Responsibility for the year 2003-04 was presented to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), in recognition of Corporate Leadership for good Corporate Citizenship and sustainable initiatives amongst large Indian companies.

Mr. Jeffrey R Immelt, Chairman & CEO of GE - the Highest Market Cap Company globally met Mr. Subir Raha, C&MD, ONGC – India's Highest Market Cap Company today.

To bring in total transparency in its contracting practices, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) will be going for Independent External Monitors for its contract initiatives from July 2005.

An international jury headed by Dr.Ola Ullsten, former Prime Minister of Sweden selected Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC), India as the winner of the ‘Golden Peacock Global Award for Corporate Governance for the Emerging Economies (Public Sector) for the year 2005’.

Production of Oil & Gas by ONGC in Assam has been severely affected due to the 100 hours Bandh by All Assam Students Union (AASU).