ONGC to up oil output at Imperial

India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) plans to rapidly ramp up crude oil production of Imperial Energy, the firm it acquired early this year, and consolidate operations even as it looks at opportunities to expand its presence in western Siberia.

ONGC Videsh Ltd, the overseas investment arm of the state-run explorer, is currently in the process of consolidating operations.

“When we took over (Imperial in January 2009), oil production had fallen to below 6,000 barrels per day. We were able to restore it to about 8,200 bpd by May and have now ramped it up to 11,200 bpd,” an official said.