Top Indian Explorer Breaks With Big Oil to Invest as Crude Falls

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India’s Oil & Natural Gas Corp., grappling with aging fields, is prepared to sacrifice profits by retaining a plan to pump 11 trillion rupees ($176 billion) into a search for reserves despite the slump in crude.

The decision sets India’s biggest explorer apart from global producers such as Chevron Corp., which are tightening budgets. Crude’s drop has already taken a toll: ONGC’s profit fell the most in at least nine years in October through December, and the shares are down 4 percent in 2015.