The domestic production of crude oil during the just-concluded financial year fell by 5.22 per cent on a year-on-year basis to 30.5 million tonnes.
For the financial year ended March 31, 2021, the domestic production of natural gas declined by 8.06 per cent to 28.7 billion cubic metre, according to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas’s Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC).
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC) produced 20.6 million tonnes of crude during the year, 2.15 per cent lower than during the previous fiscal year. Its gas production was down 7.89 per cent to 21.87 bcm. Like private producers Cairn Oil and Gas and Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Ltd, the firm attributed the fall to disruptions caused by Covid-19.
Refinery crude throughput also fell 12.82 per cent during the financial year to 221 million tonnes.
India’s consumption of diesel fell 12 per cent to 72.72 million tonnes during the year, while petrol consumption was 7 per cent lower at 27.95 million tonnes, according to figures released by PPAC earlier this month.