New Delhi, Feb. 14: ONGC's net profit in the December quarter fell 50 per cent after being forced to pay fuel subsidies despite plummeting oil prices.

Net profit at Rs 3,571.20 crore, or Rs 4.17 per share, in the October-December quarter was half of the Rs 7,125.97-crore net profit, or Rs 8.33 a share, in the same period of the previous fiscal, the company said in a statement here.

ONGC shelled out Rs 9,458 crore in fuel subsidy during the quarter when its average crude oil price realisation fell to $76 per barrel from $108.19 in October-December 2013.

The subsidy payment was in the form of discount on crude it sold to refiners and its net realisation after the payout was $35.57 per barrel.

The subsidy discount was $40.43 per barrel.

In third quarter of the previous fiscal, the company's net realisation was $45.99 per barrel after a payout of $62.20 discount.

'The company has shared the under-recoveries of oil marketing companies for the nine months and quarter ended December by allowing a discount on the price of crude, kerosene and domestic LPG,' ONGC said in a statement.

The company said profit was impacted by Rs 5,386 crore as a result of the discounts offered.

Total under-recoveries of oil firms during the quarter stood at Rs 15,981 crore. ONGC alone would have to bear over 80 per cent, or Rs 8,700 crore, of the upstream burden.