Domestic crude output down 4.3% in December

Direct bene t transfer, interest waiver on crop loans within a certain limit are likely measures

India’s domestic crude oil production dipped 4.3 per cent while gas production was 4.19 per cent higher in December 2018, compared with December 2017.

The overall output of nished products from oil re neries was 4.96 percent lower during the month under review.An of cial statement said India’s crude oil production during December 2018 stood at 2.86 million tonnes. Of this, production by ONGC was 1.76 million tonnes which is 5.42-per cent lower, compared with production during December 2017.

ONGC’s Output

ONGC’s lower output is attributed to loss of production from western offshore areas in the absence of mobile offshore production units Sagar Samrat and Sagar Laxmi. Sub-sea leakage in some well uid lines of Mumbai High & Neelam Heera Asset, led to ow restriction.

A decline in liquid production and increase in water cut in various fields of Mehsana, Rajahmundry and Assam assets also dragged down oil production. Crude oil production by Oil India during December 2018 was 0.27 million tonnes, which is 4.66-per cent lower compared with December 2017.

A major reason for lower production is less-than-planned contribution from work over wells and drilling wells, an of cial statement said. Crude oil production by private and joint venture projects under the Production Sharing Contract regime was 0.83 million tonnes, which is 1.72 per cent lower than production in December 2017.

Natural gas output

The country’s natural gas production during December 2018 was 2866.51 million standard cubic meters (mscm) in December 2018. Natural gas production by ONGC alone during the month stood at 2197.0 mscm, which is 9.81 per cent higher when compared with December 2017.

But natural gas production by OIL during the month was 232.65 mscm which is 1.82 per cent lower than December 2017. Natural gas production by private and joint venture projects was 436.86 mscm, which is 14.94 per cent lower when compared with December 2017.

Oil India said the major reason for lower production is loss of potential in Deohal area due to presence of CO2 in production stream and due to bandh and miscreant activities. An of cial statement said in RIL’s Sohagpur West CBM Block, there has been reported under performance of Coal Bed Methane (CBM) wells and production was impacted due to the constraint imposed by IFFCO on CBM offtake.

Refinery Output

Re nery production during the month was 21.03 million tonnes, which is 4.96 per cent lower that output during December 2017. The shortfall in re nery production in some Central Public Sector Enterprise re neries was attributed to lower crude receipt and restricted Delayed Coker unit throughput in IOCL’s Gujarat re nery. A delay in arrival of crude vessels at MRPL-Mangalore re nery, among other reasons, was attributed to the lower output.