India’s crude oil production for August 6% lower than target

New Delhi: In the month of August, 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. Year-on-year, the figure for August marks a 5.44 percent drop when compared to August 2018 (2908.13 TMT).

India's domestic crude oil production has plateaued in 2019 and has been lower than the target for every month. The news comes at a time when the government is seeking to increase India's domestic crude oil production and cut oil import bill. To achieve this, the government has also started offering oil blocks for exploration and production to the private sector under the Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP).

How has ONGC fared?

Crude oil production by ONGC during August 2019 was 1,716.89 TMT which is 4.81 percent lower than the target and 3.73 percent lower when compared with August 2018. Cumulative crude oil production by ONGC during April-August 2019 was 8,584.63 TMT which is 2.0 percent lower than the target for the period and 4.24 percent lower than the actual production recorded during the corresponding period of last year.

The ministry attributed the drop in output to ESP issues in wells of NBP field and Ratna R-series, increase in water cut in certain wells of Heera, Neelam, Mumbai High and B173A fields. It said that sub-sea leakage in some well fluid lines of MH and NH Asset led to flow restriction. "NH Asset well fluid lines have been put back in operation after repair/ replacement jobs. Repairing of well fluid lines of MH Asset is in progress," the ministry said.

What about Oil India?

Crude oil production by Oil India Ltd (OIL) during August 2019 was 274.34 TMT which is 5.16 percent lower than the monthly target and 4.19 percent lower when compared with August 2018. The cumulative crude oil production by OIL during April-August 2019 was 1354.79 TMT which is 4.30 percent lower than the target for the period and 4.01 percent lower than the production during the corresponding period of the last year. The ministry said that the major reason for a decline in production is less than planned contribution from workover wells and drilling wells.

How did private sector and JVs perform?

Crude oil production by private sector joint ventures (JVs) during August 2019 was 758.68 TMT which is 9.01 percent lower than the monthly target and 9.51 percent lower than August 2018. The cumulative crude oil production during April-August 2019 was 3,786.10 TMT which is 8.17 percent lower than the target for the period and 10.61 percent lower than the production during the corresponding period of the last year.

The ministry said that the drop in production was due to deficit from Mangla due to delay in on lining of 45 Fatehgarh-Mangla-1 and 4 infill wells, ESP failure, drilling and workover activities and water leakage. Other reasons listed by the government include operational issues in Bhagyam, Aishwarya and ABH fields. It added that oil production from Jyoti-1 is stopped because well was closed for long-term pressure build-up study and could not be put back in production due to non-grant of EC for development campaign.