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With the gap between demand and supply constantly widening, higher dependence on imported and more expensive oil and gas is on the rise.
Domestic crude oil and natural gas output in December was down 5.6 per cent and 10.8 per cent, respectively, year-on-year. Companies like GAIL (India) that are into gas transmission and marketing have stepped up import of natural gas.
For instance, in the third quarter of the last fiscal GAIL’s gas mix had one mmscmd of imported gas, while in third quarter of this fiscal four mmscmd accounted for liquefied natural gas (LNG) sourced by it and 16 mmscmd is the long-term contracts the company has. Therefore, of the total 84 mmscmd of gas which GAIL markets, 20 mmscmd is imported gas.
The natural gas output fell for the 13th straight month by 10.8 per cent to 3.915 billion cubic metres year-on-year. This was due to the decline in output at Reliance Industries Ltd-operated D6 block in Krishna Godavari Basin. The output from offshore fields fell by 14.4 per cent at 3.131 billion cubic metre.
The domestic oil refiners imported 13.602 million tonnes of crude oil, down from 14.82 million tonne in November. This was because refineries of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation, Chennai Petroleum Corporation and Reliance Industries turned less crude into fuels.
Total refinery output of the 17 public sector and two private sectors was up 0.8 per cent year-on-year at 14.824 million tonne. Reliance Industries from its first refinery in Jamnagar processed 4.2 per cent less crude oil in December at 2.9 million tonne against the same month last year. The company does not share data for its second export oriented refinery at Jamnagar.
Crude oil output in the country dropped for the third straight month at 3.173 million tonne in December. This was mainly because production from ONGC’s fields fell 4.8 per cent to 2 million tonne year-on-year, Petroleum Ministry data showed.
ONGC’s Mumbai High fields, Northwest of Mumbai, produced 1.378 million tonne, down 5.9 per cent from the same month last year. The fields that account for 42 per cent of domestic oil production are experiencing a natural decline in output.
The petroleum products consumption was up in December at 12.889 million tonne from 12.742 million tonne in the same month last year.
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