ONGC arrests fall in oil output from onshore wells, posts higher growth despite vintage fields

State-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has arrested a declining crude oil production trend in its onshore fields and registered a 1.25 per cent rise in output in the fiscal year ended March 2019, top company officials said.

ONGC produced 6.141 million tonnes of crude oil from its onshore fields despite majority of them being more than 50 years old and facing a natural decline.

The company has been able to make a production turnaround through a slew of initiatives, they said.

India's largest oil and gas producer has in recent times faced immense pressure from the government, which has blamed it for the continuing decline in the country's output.

ONGC raising output is critical to meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's target of cutting oil imports by 10 per cent by 2022.

ONGC has already reversed years of decline in natural gas output, posting a record 6.5 per cent jump in production to 25.9 billion cubic metres in 2018-19.

However, oil production from offshore fields continues to