The Hindu Business Line : Crude oil output in Dec up 10.6 pc

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New Delhi Jan. 24 Crude oil output of the country rose by 10.6 per cent in December 2006. However, natural gas output fell by one per cent to 2.723 billion cubic metre (BCM) in December from 2.751 BCM during the same month of the previous year.

According to a statement issued by the Petroleum Ministry, companies including ONGC produced 2.923 million tonnes (m.t) of crude oil last month compared with 2.642 m.t during the same month last year. However, in the month under review, output was 5.6 per cent less than the Government's target of 3.096 m.t.

During the first nine months of the current fiscal year, crude output totalled 25.484 m.t, 6 per cent more than the 24.033 m.t produced in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Output from the Mumbai High fields rose 22 per cent to 1.56 m.t in December. The Mumbai High Fields, operated by ONGC, account for more than half of India's annual oil production. The crude oil production by non-state-owned companies such as Cairn Energy Plc rose 8.3 per cent to 429,000 tonnes in December up from 396,000 tonnes during the same period last year, the statement said.

Refiners like State-owned Indian Oil Corporation and private sector major Reliance Industries Ltd processed 6.1 per cent more crude oil in December as demand rose. The refiners processed 12.27 m.t of crude oil into fuel in December up from 11.56 m.t in the same month a year earlier.

Output at Indian Oil Corporation rose 22 per cent in December to 4.054 m.t compared with the same period in the previous year. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation processed 1.384 m.t of oil in December, 0.7 per cent more from a year earlier, the statement showed. Production at Reliance Industries rose 1.5 per cent in December to 2.948 m.t from 2.904 m.t, the statement said.