Domestic crude output falls 7% in May

New Delhi: Domestic crude oil production fell 7% year-on-year in May as companies struggled with ageing fields and natural gas output shrank 16% mainly due to lower demand amid the lockdown.

Crude oil production declined to 2,602 thousand metric tonnes (TMT) in May, with fields operated by the private sector witnessing the biggest contraction of 18%. The Barmer block, country’s biggest onland producing block, experienced output declines due to delay in output enhancing jobs such as polymer injections and workover wells, as per a petroleum ministry statement.

ONGC, the country’s largest producer of oil and gas, produced 1,719 TMT of crude in May from its nomination fields, 2.35% lower than a ye-ar earlier. Oil India’s output fell 6.39% to 256 TMT.


Natural gas production during May fell 16% year-on-year to 2,300 million metric standard cubic meters (mmscm). ONGC’s output from the nomination fields was 1,806 mmscm, 13% lower from a year earlier. Closure of gas wells offshore due to less offtake by GAIL in western offshore and by GSPC in eastern offshore due to Covid-19 lockdown contributed to lower output, the statement said.

Output at refineries also fell 21% in May from a year earlier to 17,282 TMT.