The continuous decline in domestic production of crude oil and natural gas in India has now become a major cause for concern. In 2025–26, crude oil production fell for the 11th consecutive year, while gas production also declined for the second consecutive year. The main reasons for this trend are the depletion of aging oil fields and the failure to find new, larger reserves. As a result, India’s dependence on imports has increased greatly; It has reached 89 percent for crude oil and 51 percent for natural gas. Meanwhile, events such as tensions in the Middle East have made the situation even worse, causing oil prices to soar and supply to become evidently tight.
22 percent decline in crude oil production
Over the past few years, the government has implemented several reforms aimed at boosting oil exploration activities—such as setting up data repositories and simplifying regulations—yet large foreign companies have shown only limited interest. The past decade has seen a steady decline in production, with crude oil production falling by 22 percent.
What are the main reasons for decline in production?
depletion of old oil fields
Over time, old reserves get depleted, leading to a natural decline in production levels.
Lack of discovery of new large reserves
No major reserves of oil or gas have been discovered in the past decade, hindering any potential increase in production.
delay in commercialization
The resources that have already been identified have not been developed at sufficient pace nor have they been brought to the level of commercial production.
production statistics
crude oil
In 2025–26, production falls 2.5 percent to 28 million metric tons; Overall, an overall decline of 22 per cent has been observed since 2014–15. natural gas
Estimated to decline by 3.7 per cent to 34,776 mmscm in 2025–26
A decline of nearly 40 percent between 2011–12 and 2020–21
2021–22 saw some improvement, but production has now plateaued
India will have to become self-reliant in the energy sector
All this emphasizes that to achieve self-reliance, India will have to rapidly increase exploration, development and investment in the energy sector; Because increasing dependence on imports can become an even bigger challenge in the future.