New Delhi: In the backdrop of state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) witnessing a steady decline in oil production, Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan held a review meeting to assess the output from ONGC's Mumbai High asset. The meeting was attended by ONGC Chairman and Managing Director Shashi Shanker and functional directors. Bombay High is an offshore oilfield 176 km off the west coast of Mumbai, in about 75 m of water.
While interacting with the ONGC officials, Pradhan asked the ONGC CMD and directors to brainstorm and identify new technologies and innovative interventions which can help in improving the recovery rate of oil and gas from Mumbai High asset and boost production from domestic fields.
According to a report that appeared in a leading national daily in 2018, India's biggest oil field, Mumbai High, was producing 2,05,000 barrels of oil per day. The monthly data released by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas showed that the crude oil output from ONGC western offshore stood at 1062.34 TMT, down from 1088.72 TMT in the corresponding month of FY2018-19.
The news comes as the government is looking to boost domestic oil output in order to reduce its dependence on imports. However, at the same time India's overall crude oil output has been witnessing a steady decline over the past year. In the month of September, India's total crude oil output 7.09 percent lower than the target and 5.41 percent lower when compared with September 2018. In August this year, India's total crude oil production settled at its fourth-lowest value for the year 2019 — 2749.92 TMT. The output was 6.04 percent lower than the target for the month and around 0.7 percent lower when compared to the last month, data sourced from the Petroleum Ministry showed.