India produced 31.76 million tonnes of crude oil in the first ten months of the current financial year, which is 4.7 per cent lower than the target of 33.33 million tonnes for the period.

 

In the month of January, the country’s crude production, at 3.165 m t was 8.4 per cent below the target of 3.45 m t, according to the data provided by Government of India.

 

On the other hand, the production of natural gas slightly exceeded its target. Gas production in the April-January period was 34,619 million cubic metres, 0.3 per cent higher than the target of 34,521 million cubic metres.

 

Surprisingly, the January 2013 production of natural gas in some states fell short of their targets due to “lack of buyers”. (such as Assam, Tripura, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu)

However, this has been made good by increased off-take in Gujarat (162 per cent of target) and Andhra Pradesh (120 per cent).

 

India’s refineries met their cumulative target for producing refining crude. Against the target of 148.49 million tonnes for April-January, the production was 150.86 million tonnes.

 

ramesh.m@thehindu.co.in