New Delhi: India produced 20,294 Thousand Tonne of crude oil in the first seven months of the current financial year (April-October 2018), the lowest output recorded in the past seven years during the same period, according to fresh data sourced from the oil ministry.Production in October alone fell 5 per cent to 2,885 thousand tonne, the lowest output in that month in the past five years since 2013.India’s oil production has declined over the past seven years mainly owing to fall in output from nearly all the offshore and onshore blocks, data shows.The decrease in domestic crude oil production pushed the country’s crude import dependence to 83.5 per cent in October from 82.1 per cent recorded in the corresponding month last year.The fall comes at a time oil import bill is expected to increase 42 per cent to $125 billion in the current financial year (2018-19) on the back of recent rally in global oil prices and a depreciating rupee against the dollar.While high oil prices had been pushing the country’s Current Account Deficit (CAD) higher in the current year, they have followed a downward trajectory since mid-October on increased worries about global economic growth prospects, building up of crude oil inventory and fears of a supply glut in the oil market.Oil production by India’s largest oil and gas producer Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) fell 6.56 per cent to 1765 thousand tonne in October. Its share in the country’s total oil production fell to 61.18 per cent during the month from 62.19 per cent in October 2017.The state-owned company’s cumulative oil production in the April-October 2018 period fell 5.68 per cent to 12,441 thousand tonne on the back of declining output in western offshore fields along with loss of production from WO-16 and B-127 fields due to the absence of Mobile Offshore Production Units Sagar Samrat and Sagar Laxmi and sub-sea leakage in some well fluid lines of Mumbai High and Neelam Heera Asset, oil ministry said.ONGC’s share in the country’s crude oil production fell to 61.30 per cent for the first seven months of the current fiscal from 62.62 per cent recorded in the corresponding period last year.Crude oil production by the second-largest state-run explorer OIL fell 1.35 per cent to 283 thousand tonne in October. OIL’s share in the country’s total production increased marginally to 9.80 per cent during the month as compared to 9.44 per cent in the same months last year.For the first seven months of the current fiscal, OIL’s oil production fell 3.65 per cent to 1968 thousand tonne due to less than planned contribution from wells.The company’s share in the country’s total oil output increased to 9.70 per cent in the April-October 2018 period from 9.40 per cent in the corresponding period last year.Oil production from fields operated by private players and joint ventures decreased 2.89 per cent to 836 thousand tonne in October as compared to 861 thousand tonne in the same month last year.Share of Production Sharing Contract (PSC) fields in the total output decreased to 29 per cent in October 2018 from 28.36 per cent in October 2017.Cumulative oil production from PSC fields in the first seven months of the current fiscal decreased to 5,884 thousand tonne as compared to 5,890 thousand tonne last year in the same period.Share of PSC fields in total oil output rose to 28.99 per cent between April and October 2018 from 27.96 per cent in the year-ago period.