Oil India Ltd clocks its highest-ever crude oil, gas production in FY2023-24

New Delhi: State-run Oil India Limited (OIL) has achieved its all-time high production of crude oil and natural gas of 6.53 MMTOE (Million Metric Ton of oil equivalent) in FY2023-24, said Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on X in a post on Wednesday. Stressing on the role played by public sector energy companies in ensuring India's energy security, Puri said on X, "India continues ahead in its journey towards energy security & self-sufficiency under visionary guidance & leadership of PM @narendramodi Ji. Our public sector energy companies are making significant contributions to give momentum to this journey."

PSU Watch is now on Whatsapp Channels. Click here to join

"Kudos to the fully integrated energy Maharatna @OilIndiaLimited for achieving their all-time highest production of crude oil and natural gas of 6.53 MMTOE in FY 2023-24. This achievement has been made possible by drilling a record-breaking 61 wells and 288 workover jobs by Team OIL," said the minister on X.

Oil India produced 3.35 MMT oil, 3.182 BCM gas in FY2023-24

According to the figures shared by Oil India Limited with PSU Watch, in FY2023-24, the Maharatna PSU produced 3.35 MMT of oil, which was 6.01 percent higher in comparison to the last fiscal year, and 3.182 BCM of natural gas, which was 0.06 percent higher year-on-year. In FY2022-23, OIL produced 3.18 MMT of crude oil and 3.18 BCM of gas. In 2018-19, OIL had last recorded a high oil production of 3.32 MMT, which is close to the highest-ever figure of 3.35 MMT.

The 6 percent jump in Oil India's crude oil production assumes significance as it comes against the backdrop of a steady decline in India's overall crude oil production. In a recent interview with PSU Watch, Oil India CMD Dr Ranjit Rath explained how the PSU has managed to keep its crude oil production growing by following an aggressive, production-intensive strategy. "We are actually pursuing very aggressive, production-intensive interventions. We are looking into wells which were earlier considered sick and bringing them into production. We are looking at hydraulic fracturing to enhance our production. We are looking at enhanced oil recovery as part of our production campaign. We are also looking at putting electric submersible pumps to enhance production. We are looking at new areas through near-surface exploration where we are going to drill and also discover. We have also undertaken a very successful cyclic steam stimulation initiative. So due to this overall campaign, we are getting results," Dr Rath said.

Oil India produces around 9 percent of the country’s total crude oil and natural gas production. OIL has 61,000 sq km of acreage spread across Assam Shelf, Assam Arakan fold belt, Rajasthan basin, Mahanadi basin, offshore areas in Andaman and Nicobar basin, Kerala Konkan basin and the KG basin.

(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Google News. Click here to follow. Also, join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram. You may also follow us on Twitter here and stay updated.)