Date:29/04/2005 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2005/04/29/stories/2005042900480700.htm

Back March crude output exceeds Govt target

Our Bureau

New Delhi , April 28

THE crude oil production in March was more than Government output target of 2.703 million tonnes (mt).

During the month, the crude oil production was 2.917 mt. This was a surplus of 7.9 per cent.

According to an official data, the production for the fiscal 2004-05 was 33.981 mt against 33.373 mt (2003-04). The planned target for 2004-05 was 33.145 mt. The refineries production (in terms of crude throughput) was 10.896 mt in March against the planned target of 10.106 mt.

The crude throughput was less than the target in IOC (Barauni, Koyali and Panipat) and HPCL (Mumbai) due to shutdown and repairs. The refinery capacity utilisation for 2004-05 was 99.8 per cent while in 2003-04 it was 101.7 per cent.

The data also indicated that, in March, the natural gas production of 2,825 million cubic metres (MCM) was a surplus of 15.3 per cent when compared with the planned target of 2,451 MCM. For the fiscal 2004-05, the actual production was 31,774 MCM, a surplus of 2.7 per cent from the planned target of 30,927 MCM.

However, the natural gas production in 2003-04 was 31,962 MCM.