OREANDA-NEWS. June 30, 2011. India produced 3.2 million metric tons of oil for the month of May, a 9.6 per cent increase from a year earlier, the oil ministry said in a statement today. This makes it the 18th straight month of increase in oil production in the country. In particular, production was boosted by Oil India Ltd and non-state companies, including Cairn India Ltd. Production by non-state explorers was up 33 per cent, to 916,500 tons.

According to the data, output from the border state of Rajasthan, where Cairn India operates the country's biggest onshore oil deposit, more than doubled to 540,900 tons. Production at the field commenced in August 2009. Oil India, the second-biggest state-owned crude producer, reported a 41 per cent increase in production to 323,800 tons, according to the statement.

Production from state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), the nation's largest energy company, dipped 1.7 per cent to 2 million tons, according to the ministry. Production at ONGC's Mumbai High fields declined 3.3 per cent, for an output of 1.4 million tons. The fields, 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of Mumbai in the Arabian Sea, account for about 44 per cent of India's oil production.

Natural gas output in India dipped for the sixth straight month as well, declining 9.6 per cent to 4.1 billion cubic meters, according to the data. Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), India's biggest company by market value, slashed production from the country's largest gas field, located off the east coast, to 50 million cubic meters a day from a maximum level of 60 million because of reduced pressure in the reservoir, according to the country's oil regulator.