NEW DELHI: Domestic crude production contracted by nearly 5 per cent in the month of November after production in the Cairn Vedanta-owned Rajasthan oil fields fell sharply. According to data from the Ministry of Petroleum, crude oil production in November stood at 2.48 million tonnes compared to 2.61 million tonnes produced in the same month a year ago.
The data showed that the Rajasthan fields produced 9.6 per cent less crude oil during the month after a sharp reduction in output in the Mangala, Aishwarya, and other Cairn-operated fields.
As for state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), production was lower by 1.5 per cent, again due to lower-than-anticipated output in a few blocks. Oil India Ltd too saw production fall by 6.6 per cent due to a series of protests affecting operations in Assam following the accident at Baghjan.
India’s total oil production in the April-November 2020 period was 6 per cent lower at 20.42 million tonnes, with output from the Rajasthan field during this period dropping a sharp 16 per cent to 3.91 million tonnes. Natural gas production meanwhile fell 9 per cent to 2.3 billion cubic meters in November, with ONGC producing 3.7 per cent less after the Hazira processing plant was shut for maintenance.
Gas output during April-November was 18.7 bcm, down 11.8 per cent over the previous year, the data showed. Global crude oil prices meanwhile have hit another ceiling, with the new strain of virus infections in the United Kingdom resulting in a sharp fall in future prices. S&P Global said in a report on Tuesday that the ICE Brent February futures contract began falling to under $50.75 per barrel, while the February NYMEX light sweet crude contract was down to $47.79 per barrel.
On Monday alone, both benchmark commodities fell a sharp 2.58 per cent. The agency said that the “downward trajectory of the prices this morning can be attributed to the market’s fear that the emergence of a mutant strain of the coronavirus in the UK could lead to tougher and longer lockdown.”