"In the last five years, reserve replacement ratio in India was more than one, which means oil companies in the country have accreted more reserves than their oil and gas production," Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora said in a statement Wednesday.

He said the balance recoverable reserve position in 2002-03 was about 1.485 billion metric tons of oil and oil equivalent of gas, which has increased to 1.843 bmtoe in 2006-07, up 24 percent.

"The government has planned to improve the recovery factor from existing major fields by implementing enhanced oil recovery and improved oil recovery schemes," he said. "It has also plans to develop newly discovered fields speedily and stepping up the use of new technologies for seismic surveys, work over, stimulation operations, drilling of wells etc., in producing areas."