ONGC reports gas leak from well being drilled off west coast

NEW DELHI: India's largest explorer Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) has marginally cut oil output from the country's biggest oil producing asset off the west coast following a gas leak from a well being drilled.

"As a precaution we have shut gas injection into some of the nearby wells in the Mumbai High north fields.

Our crisis management team is already there and we have evacuated the non-essential staff from the area," N. K. Verma, the company's exploration chief, told Reuters.

Because of the stoppage of gas injection into some of the wells there is a marginal loss of oil production, he said.

ONGC said in a statement it has evacuated 48 people and is working towards plugging the leak.