Shares of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) rallied 5.77% to Rs 263.10 on the NSE on Wednesday, following news that its joint venture with Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) had finalised shipbuilding contracts with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries.
The filing with the BSE stated that the contracts are for the construction of two Indian flag Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs), aimed at transporting ethane for OPaL, a subsidiary of ONGC. Each vessel will have a cargo capacity of 1 lakh cubic metres, and the deliveries are scheduled for FY 2028–29.
The contracts were signed on 27 January 2026 in the presence of Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dr Neeraj Mittal, Secretary (MoPNG), and Arun Kumar Singh, Chairman and CEO, ONGC. The signing was carried out by S K Dwivedi (ONGC), Hisashi Umemura (MOL), and Sung an Choi (Samsung Heavy Industries).
ONGC and MOL have established two joint ventures, Bharat Ethane One IFSC Pvt Ltd and Bharat Ethane Two IFSC Pvt Ltd, based in GIFT City, Gujarat, each owning and operating one VLEC. These vessels will support the transportation of about 600 KTPA of ethane for OPaL, a subsidiary of ONGC. Long term Time Charter Party agreements have been signed with these JVs to secure a stable ethane transport corridor from the USA to India.
According to ONGC, the initiative is a strategic step to strengthen India’s energy ecosystem, enhance supply chain resilience, and build domestic capabilities in specialised marine energy logistics. The move aligns with the government’s Maritime Amrit Kaal Vision 2047 and the broader push for an Atmanirbhar energy sector.
Valuation and technical snapshot of ONGC
On the valuation front, ONGC is trading at a price to earnings ratio of 8.45, indicating that the stock is relatively inexpensive compared with its earnings. Its price to sales ratio stands at 0.51, suggesting the market values the company at just over half of its annual sales. The price to book ratio is 0.83, implying the stock is trading below its book value, which can be seen as attractive from a value investing perspective.
From a technical standpoint, ONGC shows bullish signals. According to Trendlyne data, the 14 day Relative Strength Index (RSI) is at 59.7. For context, RSI values below 30 indicate an oversold condition, while readings above 70 signal an overbought condition.
The stock is also trading above all eight major Simple Moving Averages (SMAs), spanning from the short term five day SMA to the long term 200 day SMA. This indicates strong upward momentum across both short and long term trends, reinforcing a bullish technical outlook.
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