KOLKATA, July 31 - The government is open to deliberating on the issue of mega merger of state-owned oil firms for creating a behemoth, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said.
�The government plans to deliberate on the issue of merging the E&P companies and oil marketing firms in the public sector,� the Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas told PTI. The state-owned oil companies are IOC, BPCL, HPCL, ONGC and OIL.
He said with crude oil prices falling, the profits and margins of state-owned E&P (exploration and production) firms ONGC and Oil India were getting eroded.
�Both ONGC and OIL are taking a hit on profits. The issue had been recently flagged by a director of one of the PSUs that it was in interest of the E&P firms to get merged with the oil marketing companies... There is nothing wrong in discussing the issue within the ministry,� he said. � PTI
