New Delhi: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) planned oil trading joint venture will be based in either Dubai or Singapore and is close to being finalised, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arun Kumar Singh said on Monday. "I can say at this point in time that we are very close to it and you can say 95 percent work is done," he told reporters after the company's 33rd Annual General Meeting (AGM).
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Asked directly whether the venture would sit in Singapore, Dubai or India, Singh said the location was among the questions that the company is still considering. "Going by the current trend, trading is the concept that we have in mind, so the JV will be located either in Dubai or Singapore," he said.
Commenting on the timing, he said, "This is something that we are hoping that we should be through by the end of this year (2026)."
Singh put the volumes the venture could handle at around 100 million metric tonnes (MMT) of oil and oil equivalent, on the basis that both purchases and sales would be counted, along with third-party trade, in which ONGC trades cargoes it has not produced itself.
"Oil, gas, everything together. Purchase and sale both," he said. "Because today we are exporting also a lot of oil and gas. Trading will include both."
ONGC group produced 50.1 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMToE) in 2025-26, including its share from production sharing contract joint ventures and overseas assets. Its two refining subsidiaries processed 43 MMT between them — Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) 26.04 MMT and Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) 17 MMT.
Singh declined to name the prospective partner. Asked repeatedly who ONGC was partnering with, he said the question fell among the aspects still under consideration. "That is to be decided by the board," he said.
The company has said previously that an international oil company would come in as an equity partner to supply trading expertise, and that HPCL and MRPL would hold stakes in the entity alongside ONGC.
ONGC first set out the trading plan in 2025. At that stage the company said the unit would have the potential to unlock USD 1 billion in value annually, and executives said it was targeted to launch by March 2026, with trading activity building over subsequent quarters. Group trading volumes were then put at around 100 MMT of oil a year. The launch, which was initially planned for March, has now slipped to the end of 2026, as the ONGC Chairman said.
Other state refiners have gone the same way
ONGC would not be the first Indian state-owned oil company to set up a trading arm abroad. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited incorporated a wholly owned subsidiary in Singapore in February to trade crude, gas and petrochemicals. Indian Oil Corporation has established an arm at the International Financial Services Centre at GIFT City in Gujarat.
The distinction in ONGC's case is structure. BPCL's Singapore entity is wholly owned; ONGC has said its vehicle will be a joint venture with an outside equity partner brought in for trading capability.
ONGC would not be the first Indian state-owned oil company to set up a trading arm abroad. Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary in Singapore in February to trade crude, gas and petrochemicals. Indian Oil Corporation has established an arm at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at GIFT City in Gujarat.
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The distinction in ONGC's case is structure. BPCL's Singapore entity is wholly-owned, while ONGC has said its vehicle will be a joint venture with an outside equity partner brought in for trading capability.
