India's crude oil production fell 1.4 per cent in December as output from oilfields operated by private companies like Cairn India fell sharply. Crude oil production at 3.21 million tons in December 2014 was 1.4 per cent lower than 3.25 million tons in the same month a year ago, according to latest data released by Petroleum Ministry on Wednesday.
State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) reported a 0.7 per cent rise in output at 1.9 million tons on the back of 5 per cent surge in offshore production. However, privately operated fields reported a 5.2 per cent drop in production at 1.02 million tons. Rajasthan oilfields of Cairn saw production drop 7.8 per cent to 765,049 tons, it said. Natural gas production dipped 3.5 per cent to 2.89 billion cubic meters as output from privately operated fields like Reliance Industries' eastern offshore KG-D6 block continued to decline.