India's Overseas Oil and Gas Production Declines Amid Geopolitical Challenges
India's overseas oil and gas production has declined by over 12% in five years, falling from 21.9 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) in 2020-21 to 19.2 MMTOE in 2025-26. This decline has reduced the share of overseas production in India's domestic output from approximately 37% to around 30.7%. The country still relies heavily on imports, with over 88% of its crude oil requirements and around 50% of its natural gas being met through imports.
The Committee on Estimates has highlighted the importance of investing in overseas oil and gas assets to strengthen India's energy security. State-owned companies such as ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL) hold interests in 45 overseas assets across 21 countries, including 21 producing assets, 14 assets under exploration, seven under development, and three pipeline projects.
OVL's production declined by around 6% to 9.67 MMTOE in 2025-26, due to geopolitical developments affecting its Russian assets, including Vankor and Sakhalin-1.