Crude oil production up 5.6%

Crude oil production in the country rose by 5.6 per cent in the financial year ended March 2007 to 33.98 million tonne (mt) as compared with 32.190 mt in the previous financial year. However, the production fell short of the target of 35.43 mt by 4.1 per cent.

As per the latest data released by petroleum ministry, the production of crude oil in March at 2.93 mt, fell short of the target of 3.18 mt. The fall in crude oil production during the month is primarily due to lower output by government-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) and Oil India (OIL), which fell 14.2 per cent and 9.2 per cent respectively behind their production targets.

The reasons for the shortfall include power shutdowns in Gujarat, less-than-expected gains from the new exploratory wells in Tamil Nadu and "less availability of inputs" in the Mumbai region.

However, the production by private and joint venture companies remained 6.2 per cent above the targeted amount for March 2007.

The natural gas production during the 2006-07 was 2 per cent below the previous financial year, though it was better than the targetted production. The production stood at 31,555 million cubic metres (mcm), while the target for the year was 31,538 mcm.

In March 2007, the production of natural gas at 2,783 mcm was 2.5 per cent above the target of 2,715 mcm for the month.

ONGC's natural gas production at 1,953 mcm was 2.6 per cent above the target of 1,904 mcm. OIL, however, produced 8.3 per cent lower than the target of 216 mcm. The production of private and joint venture companies, at 632 mcm, beat the production target for the month by 6.2 per cent.

In the refining sector, the capacity utilisation in March 2007 was 107.7 per cent while it was 100.2 per cent in the corresponding month last year.

The refinery production for 2006-07 increased 11.3 per cent to 146.55 mt from 130.10 mt in the previous financial year. In the year, the refinery output at 146.55 mt was 7 per cent above the target of 135.32 mt.

In March 2007, the throughput at 13.52 mt was 10.8 per cent above the target of 11.73 mt.