Domestic natural gas production increased 18.4% to 2,892 million standard cubic metre (mscm) in July on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, mainly due to higher production from Reliance Industries and BP’s ultra-deep-water field in the KG-D6 Block of the Krishna Godavari basin on the east coast.
The output had fallen 8.1% y-o-y to 28,670.6 mscm in FY21.
Indigenous natural gas production in July was equal to about 54% of the country’s requirements in the month. Import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in July was 2,528 mscm, 14.9% lower than the corresponding month of the previous year. The value of LNG import in July at $0.9 billion was, however, 80% higher annually.
To increase hydrocarbon recovery from its 43 producing fields across Gujarat, Assam, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, state-run oil and gas producer ONGC recently invited offers seeking partners to enhance production from its marginal nomination fields.
The 2.4 million tonne (MT) of crude oil produced in the country during the month was 3.2% lower than the production in the year-ago period. Due to the increase in global crude oil rates, the value of the import was $8 billion, 110% higher than July 2020. In the first four months of FY22, the value of crude import, at $33.1 billion, was 169% higher than the same period last year though import volumes were up only 16.1% to 66.4 MT. Around 85% of the country’s crude oil requirement has to be imported.
The current price for gas produced from local nominated fields has been revised to an all-time low of $1.79/ million British thermal units (mBtu) by the government, which is much below the breakeven point for most fields, deterring gas producers from aggressively increasing production or getting into new high-risk projects. For ultra-deep-water gas fields like the Krishna Godavari basin, which have higher pricing and marketing freedom, the current price cap is set at $3.62/mBtu.
Source: Financial Express