OIL achieves record 6.718 mmtoe crude, 3.429 bcm gas production in FY 2024-25

Guwahati, April 5: At a time when India is heavily dependent on crude import to meet the domestic demands, Oil India Limited (OIL) has achieved new heights in production of oil and natural gas in the financial year 2024-25.

OIL sources told The Assam Tribune that in the last financial year, OIL recorded highest production of 6.718 MMTOE of oil and oil equivalent and 3.429 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This is the highest in the history of the oil company. In the year 2023-24, OIL produced 6.541 MMTOE of oil and oil equivalent and 3.182 billion cubic meters of natural gas.

On new drilling operations, sources said that digging of 70 new wells have been initiated of which 57 have been completed. Drilling has been completed in three wells, while deep drilling including offshore drilling is going on in 10 wells. It is expected that completion of drilling will further improve production.

Sources said the production of crude oil and natural gas is increasing because of more exploration and use of the most modern technology available in the world.

It may be mentioned here that India is heavily dependent on imported crude and around 87 per cent of the country's requirement is met from imports. Russia is one of the biggest exporters of oil to India, while India also imports from other countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the UAE, Angola, and the USA. However, imports from the USA have reduced over the years.

Sources said that because of over dependence on imports, India does not have control over the prices, which depends on the price of crude in the international market.

That is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asked all the domestic oil producing companies to make all-out efforts to augment production and as a part of the government's new initiative, OIL has ventured into offshore drilling in the Andaman basin.