27-04-09 India produced 2.3 % less crude oil in March, the fourth consecutive monthly decline in output.
According to government data, Oil & Natural Gas Corp. (ONGC) and other producers extracted 2.86 mm tons of crude oil in March compared with 2.93mn tons in the same month a year earlier. Output in the year ending in March fell 1.8 % to 33.5 mm tons.

India's crude oil imports rose 11.7 % in March, according to provisional data provided by the Petroleum Ministry. The Government imported 11.7mn tons of crude oil in March.
Separately, local refineries increased fuel production 3.3 % in March after Reliance Petroleum started operating a 29mn tons-a-year refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat in March.