India’s crude production fell for fifth consecutive year in 2016-17

According to the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, India’s crude oil production fell for the fifth consecutive year in 2016-17 as output continued to dip from the country’s ageing oilfields. Output fell 2.5 per cent from the previous fiscal year to 36 million metric tonnes. Lower output from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation’s (ONGC) Mumbai High field and Cairn India’s fields in Rajasthan has been the key factor for the drop. The delay in the deployment of the Sagar Samrat rig linking to the mobile offshore production unit and the development of the western periphery of Mumbai High South field has also affected ONGC’s crude production. The major decline in output from fields in Rajasthan was due to the closure of a few high water cut wells in the Mangala field and poor reservoir performance of the Bhagyam wells. Meanwhile, oil demand increased by 5 per cent in 2016-17.