India's oil and gas supply/demand picture for the current fiscal year is taking shape.
The country is expected to produce 560,000-580,000 b/d of crude oil and about 1.8 bcfd of natural gas in fiscal 1992-93, Indian Petroleum Minister B. Shankaranand told Parliament. Of that total, the Bombay offshore area will account for about 300,000 b/d of crude and about 1.3 bcfd of gas.
On the demand side, more than 630 MMcfd of production for the fiscal year has been allocated to gas based industries in Maharashtra. And Gas Authority of India Ltd. will account for 290 MMcfd.
OIL IMPORTS
Meantime, India is near the end of talks on term contracts with its traditional suppliers Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Iran, and Russia that call for imports of 540,000 b/d of crude and 246,000 b/d of products.
India is trying to take advantage of low world oil prices by tying up term contracts within the next few months while domestic production falls short of targets (OGJ, Feb. 24, p. 34).
Indian Oil Corp. agreed to lift 100,000 b/d of Saudi crude during fiscal 1992-93, up from 40,000 b/d in 1991-92. India's crude imports rose to 480,000 b/d in fiscal 1991-92 ending last month from about 414,000 b/d in fiscal 1990-91. Most crude purchases in February-March 1992 were on the spot market, reversing previous trends, in response to the cutoff of crude supplies from the former Soviet Union late last year.
Earlier estimates placed Indian oil imports in fiscal 1991-92 at 540,000 b/d of crude and 240,000 b/d of refined products.
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