New Delhi : Exploration major Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has sought government approval to stop offering crude at discounted rates to other state-owned refining companies.

ONGC currently offers $2-5 a barrel discount on market price for 13 million tonnes of crude supplied to refining and marketing majors Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and their subsidiaries.

Of ONGC's domestic oil production of 26 million tonnes, about 17 million tonnes is produced from offshore fields, mainly Mumbai High.

"We have requested the government to discontinue the ongoing system of the oil ministry allocating ONGC's offshore oil to other state-owned refiners," ONGC chairman Subir Raha told reporters here Friday on the sidelines of the first road show for the 55 new blocks being offered by India for exploration.

"We expect the government to accede to our request. I am expecting that by April we will be free to negotiate prices with the refiners and sell crude to them at market prices," he said.

While the company is offering discount on crude price to other companies, Raha said its own subsidiary Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) is importing crude for processing.

Though the government had come out with a notification on March 31, 2002, to discontinue the allocation system, the order was still to be implemented, he added.

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