Output from Indian state firms’ oil and gas fields overseas is rising again after falling for four straight years as ONGC Videsh’s (OVL) projects in Russia and South Sudan have nearly normalised after severe disruptions last year.
The oil and gas output has risen to 8.3 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (mmtoe) in the April-August period from 8.1 mmtoe in the same period last fiscal year. The annual output had reached a peak of 24.7 mmtoe in 2018-19 following the purchase of stakes in Russia’s Vankor field by Indian state-run firms in 2015 and 2016. The output started declining in 2019-20 and had dropped 21% by 2022-23 as fields matured, producer cartel OPEC+ took voluntary production cuts, and geopolitics throttled output in a Russian field last year.
