State-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp on Thursday reported a 20 percent drop in net profit for the fourth quarter on 2014-15 at Rs.3,935 crore caused by higher operating cost and write-off on dry wells.

 

 

 The hydrocarbons explorer had posted a profit of Rs.4,889 crore in the same quarter a year earlier.

 

 Company sales for the quarter rose 2 percent to Rs.21,303 crore, as compared to Rs.20,881 crore a year ago.

 

 ONGC wrote off Rs.291 crore in exploration expense for drilling wells that did not result in any discovery, chairman D.K.Sarraf told reporters  here.

 

 Moreover, revenue from value added products was down 35 percent to Rs.1,866 crore.

 

 For the full fiscal, the company wrote off around Rs.10,000 crore, of which Rs.2,700 crore was due to dry wells.

 

 Sarraf said the company was exempt from paying any fuel subsidy in the quarter in question, and will not be required to pay any in the first quarter of current fiscal.

 

 While the company realized $55.63 for every barrel of oil produced as compared to $44.87 per barrel in the fourth quarter of 2013-14, operating costs rose by Rs.1,278 crore.

 

 For the full fiscal, ONGC had a net profit of Rs.17,733 crore, down 19.7 percent over the previous year's Rs.22,095 crore.

 

 The ONGC stock closed Thursday at Rs.328.10 a share, down 3.15 points, or 0.95 percent, over its previous close on the BSE.