In past two trading session, the market capitalisation of state-owned oil exploration & production company declined by Rs 223-billion to Rs 2,148-billion, the BSE data shows. The stock hit eight month low, trading at its lowest level since September 26, 2017.

“The Petroleum Ministry plans to direct ONGC to sell its crude oil at below ruling international prices by capping the price at, say, $70 for the entire fiscal year. Oil India Ltd (the other national oil producer) will not be a part of this scheme,” the Indian Express report suggested quoting the government officials.

ONGC supplies an estimated 20% of the country’s total crude oil requirement to refining-cum-marketing companies Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL).

Meanwhile, the BSE said that the Exchange has sought clarification from Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd with respect to news article appearing on energy.economictimes.indiatimes.com - May 24, 2018 titled "RIL, Shell, ONGC told to pay $3.8 billion as government's share of PMT".

The reply is awaited.

Oil India (down 3% to Rs 223), HPCL (down 3% at Rs 279) and BPCL (down 2% at Rs 367) were also trading lower in the range of 2% to 3% on the BSE. However, IOC was up 1% at Rs 155, after falling 5% on Wednesday. On comparison, the S&P BSE Sensex was trading 1% higher at 34,674 points at 01:34 pm.