India's Petroleum Sector
Production, Consumption, and Import Structure
India is the third-largest oil consumer globally and the fourth-largest oil importer. Domestic crude production is managed by ONGC (on-shore and off-shore), Oil India Limited (north-east India and Rajasthan), and private/PSU joint ventures. Production has been declining since FY12 due to ageing fields, technical challenges, and insufficient fresh exploration investment. The Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), introduced in 2016, replaced the previous New Exploration and Licensing Policy (NELP, 1999) to attract private and foreign investment through an open acreage licensing and revenue-sharing model.
- Domestic crude production FY26: 26 MMT (down from peak of 35.9 MMT in FY12)
- India's PoL consumption FY26: 243.2 MMT (up from 90.6 MMT in FY1999 — nearly 2.7× increase)
- Import dependence trajectory: 54.9% in FY1999 → >90% in FY26
- Major supplier countries: Russia (largest after 2022 sanctions on Russia enabled discounted supply), Iraq, Saudi Arabia, UAE
- Refining capacity: India's petroleum refining efficiency improved ~33% between FY98 and FY26; refining exports partially offset import costs
- Nodal ministry: Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG)
- Key PSUs: ONGC (upstream), IOC, BPCL, HPCL (downstream refining/marketing); GAIL (gas)
● Tracked since March 12, 2026 · last seen June 28, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes