Meanwhile, the S&P BSE Sensex was down 167.68 points or 0.87% at 19,164.01.

On BSE, 1.82 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against average daily volume of 3.88 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a low of Rs 66.15 so far during the day, which is a 52-week low for the counter. The stock hit a high of Rs 69.30 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 140 on 5 July 2012.

The small-cap oil exploration firm has equity capital of Rs 130.49 crore. Face value per share is Rs 10.

Shares of Hindustan Oil Exploration Company (HOEC) have tumbled 31.51% in nine trading sessions from a recent high of Rs 96.95 on 13 February 2013, after the company reported net loss in Q3 December 2012 after market hours on 13 February 2013.

HOEC reported net loss of Rs 528.75 crore in Q3 December 2012, as against net profit of Rs 4.81 crore in Q3 December 2011. Net sales declined 29.3% to Rs 23.11 crore in Q3 December 2012 over Q3 December 2011.

HOEC's bottomline was hit adversely due to an impairment loss in Q3 December 2012. HOEC said that based on third party reserves assessment and reduction in Proved Reserves in PY-1, the company has carried out an impairment test based on procedures consistent with the Accounting Standards in India and recognised a one-time exceptional loss of Rs 571.97 crore in Q3 December 2012. The total net worth of the company post-write off as of 31 December 2012 is Rs 685.24 crore.

As operator, HOEC, on behalf of the consortium partners, has submitted a Commercial Discovery Report (CDR) relating to the significant 'Dirok' Gas Discovery, in a conventional and prolific ‘Girujan' Reservoir setting in Upper Assam, to the authorities on 31 December 2012 and the same is under review. After the approval of the CDR, the Consortium shall be making a disclosure of the Resources and presenting a Field Development Plan, to monetise the gas from 'Dirok' Discovery with an accelerated time-to-market schedule with 'First Gas' during the calendar year 2015, HOEC said.

HOEC said that with its existing portfolio of exploration and production assets centric to India, the company shall be actively seeking out business opportunities in the conventional and unconventional plays to re-position its portfolio for growth.

HOEC was incorporated in 1983 for taking up Exploration and Production (E&P) activities. The company has participating interest in nine oil/gas fields in India (in Cambay basin, Cauvery basin, Assam Arakan basin and Rajasthan basin), which are in varying stages of E&P life cycle i.e. exploration, development and production.