India oil output drops marginally in May, gas production dips

New Delhi: India's crude oil production dropped marginally in May as a fall in output at fields operated by state-owned ONGC and OIL negated increased flows from private firms including Cairn India. Crude oil production was at 3.16 million tonnes in May compared with 3.17 million tonnes in the same period a year ago, according to data released by the Oil Ministry here. Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) reported a 1.3 per cent drop to 1.87 million tonnes as its fields in Gujarat produced less.

Oil India Ltd (OIL) produced 5.2 per cent less at 284,143 tonnes, while output from fields operated by private firms rose 3.1 per cent to 1.005 million tonnes. Natural gas production dipped 2.2 per cent last month to 2.94 billion cubic meters (bcm) as private operators saw an almost 10 per cent drop in output.

While ONGC's gas production was almost unchanged at 1.93 bcm, production from offshore fields of private firms such as Reliance Industries dropped 9.8 per cent to 685.22 million cubic meters. India's April-May oil production at 6.26 million tonnes was almost unchanged from the previous year. Gas output in the period dropped 5 per cent to 5.94 bcm.