The Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) data revealed that ONGC and Oil India produced 1.61 MMT and 0.28 MMT of crude oil respectively in August. This led to an increase in domestic crude oil production by 2.1 percent year-on-year, reaching 2.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) as per the data from the Oil Ministry on September 20.
In addition, there was a 6.2 percent increase in India’s crude oil imports in August compared to the same period last year.
In August, the country’s net import bill for oil and gas was $9.3 billion, with crude oil imports making up $10.9 billion and LNG imports amounting to $1.3 billion. Official data showed that the oil and gas import bill for August 2022 was $11.8 billion.
In August, the average price of the Indian basket crude was $86.43 per barrel, compared to $80.37 per barrel in July 2023 and $97.40 per barrel in August 2022. Furthermore, the data indicated that domestic natural gas consumption increased by 10 percent year-on-year in August, reaching 5,345 MMSCM (million metric standard cubic meters). For the current financial year through August 2023, cumulative consumption was 26,743 MMSCM, marking a rise of 3.7 percent from last year.
Likewise, there was a 9.3 percent year-on-year increase in domestic production of natural gas in August, totaling 3,166 MMSCM. The cumulative gross production of natural gas for the current financial year through August 2023 was 14,852 MMSCM, which is a 3.6 percent increase compared to the same period last year.
In terms of LNG imports, there was a total of 2,234 MMSCM imported in August, which is a 10.1 percent increase from last year. The cumulative imports for the current financial year through August rose by 3.5 percent from last year, totaling 12,215 MMSCM.