India Revives 15-Year Dormant Oilfield Amid Declining Production
The Khagorijan field, discovered in 1998 with first oil extracted in 2004 saw production discontinued after local communities protested severe erosion at a nearby river. Environmental and regulatory issues arising forced authorities and the operator of the field, Oil India Limited to shut down the field, Oilprice reported.
The Assam Chief Minister, Himanta Biswa Sarma reportedly stated that measures have been taken to secure the Bramaputra river to prevent further erosion and any consequent adverse effects on the residents. India, the world’s largest democratic country with a population of over 1.2 billion people is significantly dependent on importation of crude oil to satisfy the energy needs. It has been desperately trying to boost local production in a bid to reduce the weight of imports.
In a related development, the country’s state-owned oil firm, ONGC reportedly signed a preliminary deal with oil giant ExxonMobil to explore oil in deepwater regions off India’s east and west coasts. The country’s oil production fell four per cent from May and 1.6 per cent from June 2021 to average 600,000 barrels per day, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, India imports an average of 4.63 million barrels daily from majorly Russia (879,000bpd) and Saudi Arabia (825,000bpd). This is 671% higher than what the country produces, signifying a massive level of oil demand.
This has led the North-East Asian country to become the largest buyer of Russian oil after United States and European sanctions reduced flows to its largest oil market. Russia has been forced to discount its oil amid high oil prices to make it affordable for refiners on a cost per volume basis.
