Crude oil, natural gas output falls in October

Domestic production of crude oil and natural gas in October fell compared to the same month last year.

While crude oil production dropped 2.08 per cent, natural gas output dipped 1.82 per cent, data released by the Ministry for Petroleum and Natural Gas showed.

Crude oil production during the month was 3.151 million tonne against 3.218 million tonne in the same month last year. Production from Cairn India’s Rajasthan fields and ONGC’s onshore fields fell by 2.35 per cent and 3.87 per cent, respectively.

Imports lower Despite the fall in crude oil production, imports during the month were lower than that of last year. According to data from the Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell, crude oil imports in October was 3.85 per cent lower at 15.56 million tonne.

This was mainly because the crude throughput at domestic refineries during the month was also 4.43 per cent lower. Domestic refineries processed 18.268 million tonne of crude against 19.115 million tonne in the year-ago period.

Natural gas production also fell in October after showing two months of marginal growth. During the month, the production stood at 2.795 billion cubic metre (2.846 billion cubic metre last year).

Gas production in the eastern offshore blocks fell 7.40 per cent during the month to 0.369 bcm. Production from ONGC’s offshore blocks also fell 4.43 per cent to 1.440 bcm.