The countrys crude oil production is set to decline by another one million tonnes during the current year, 1997-98, pushing the oil import bill up by at least $127.5 million.
The decline stems from the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) whose production target for the current year is by itself one million tonnes less than the production during 1996-97.
The crude oil production target of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation for the current year is 27.7 million tonnes as against the production of 28.7 million tonnes in 1996-97.
In case Oil and Natural Gas Corporation fails to meet even this truncated target like in 1996-97 when it produced 28.7 million tonnes of crude oil against a target of 31 million tonnes the decline in production and the subsequent increase in the oil import bill of the country will be significantly higher.
The other national oil company engaged in exploration and production of crude oil Oil India Limited (OIL), will, however, be able to meet its target of 3.02 million tonnes of crude oil production for 1997-98. Last year too, Oil India Limited was able to almost achieve its oil production target of 2.9 million tonnes.
The old and flogged wells of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation are considered to be its main bane. Most of the wells of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation are quite old and having hit their peak production, are now on the decline.
Unless some new major discoveries are made, the decline in production is expected to continue at an accelerated pace. Moreover, the law and order situation in Assam is also a cause of concern for the corporation. Many of its operations in the state continue getting disrupted leading to production and manday loss.
