New Delhi, July 27: Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) today reported an 8.2 per cent drop in its June quarter net profit after a sharp reduction in natural gas rates took away gains made from higher oil prices.

The country's biggest oil and gas producer has reported a net profit of Rs 3,884.73 crore, or Rs 3.03 a share, in the April-June quarter compared with Rs 4,232.54 crore, or Rs 3.30 per share, in the same period of the previous fiscal.

ONGC's revenue was up at Rs 19,073.54 crore against Rs 17,784.75 crore in the first quarter of the previous fiscal.

Expenses of the company fell 32.4 per cent mainly because of reduced statutory levies paid to the central and the state governments. Statutory levies fell 40 per cent from the previous quarter to Rs 4,490 crore.

ONGC had made royalty payments to the tune of Rs 2,444 crore in the previous quarter to Assam and Gujarat.

Crude oil production was up 1.6 per cent to 6.44 million tonnes in the June quarter while natural gas output rose 9.8 per cent to 6.03 billion cubic meters.

ONGC said it had notified five new discoveries in offshore blocks during the quarter.

"Out of the five discoveries, three have been made in offshore blocks while two discoveries have been made in onshore blocks."