India’s natural gas production in August declined 4 per cent to 2,688 Million Standard Cubic Meter (MMSCM) due to drop in fields operated by Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Oil India and Joint Ventures (JVs).
Cumulatively, the country’s natural gas production in the first five months (April-August) of the current financial year (2019-2020) declined by a marginal 0.98 per cent to 13,437 MMSCM, primarily due to drop in production from fields operated by Joint Ventures (JVs) or under Production Sharing Contracts (PSC).
Natural Gas Production in August
Oil Company August 2019 (MMSCM) August 2018 (MMSCM) % difference
ONGC 2007.24 2060.68 (3)
Oil India 236.93 236.97 (0.01)
PSC fields 444.06 490.47 (9.46)
Total 2688.23 2788.12 (4)
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
ONGC, the country’s largest producer of crude oil and natural gas posted a 3 per cent decline in natural gas production to 2,007 MMSCM in August. This was due to fall in output from fields in Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Gujarat, Rajashtan, Tamil Nadu and western offshore.
Cumulatively, the company’s gas production in the first five months declined 3.53 percent to 10,158 MMSCM. The reasons included less gas production from Bassein and Satellite asset, less off-take by consumers and pressure decline in fields situated in the Cauvery asset.
Oil India
Oil India, another state-owned oil and gas explorer, posted a marginal decline in gas production to 237 MMSCM in August due to decline in production from fields in Assam. Cumulatively, the company’s output in the first five months rose 1.34 percent to 1,153 MMSCM.
The reason for the shortfall included the presence of carbon dioxide in production stream in Deohal area, bandh and miscreant activities and the shut down of Namrup Plant II project.
JVs
Gas production from fields operated by Joint Ventures or those under PSCs slumped 9.46 percent to 444 MMSCM due to decline in output from eastern and western offshore fields and decline in Coal Bed Methane (CBM) blocks in Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.
Cumulatively, natural gas production in the first five months of the current financial year from fields under PSC dropped 12 percent to 2,126 MMSCM. The decline is attributed to closure of two wells in Reliance’s D1D3 field and a halt in production from the MA field apart from the delay in anticipated production from ONGC’s DDW D-5 field.
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