India’s oil production continues to slip, down 2% in December

India’s production of crude oil, which is refined to produce petrol and diesel, continued to decline in December 2021, with lower output from state-owned ONGC leading to a near 2 per cent drop, official data showed on Wednesday. Oil production in December 2021 was 2.51 million tonnes, down from 2.55 million tonnes a year earlier and a target of 2.6 million tonnes. The output was, however, higher than 2.43 million tonnes production in November 2021.

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) – India’s biggest producer, produced 3 per cent less crude oil at 1.65 million tonnes in December due to delays in mobilising equipment at western offshore fields. Oil India Ltd (OIL) produced 5.4 per cent more crude oil at 2,54,360 tonnes.

India is 85 per cent reliant on imports to meet its crude oil needs as domestic output is insufficient to meet the demand. During April-December – the first nine months of the current fiscal year – crude oil production fell 2.63 per cent to 22.3 million tonnes. ONGC produced 4 per cent less oil at 14.6 million tonnes.

Source: Economic Times