New Delhi: The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) on August 13 said that its crude oil operations had not been affected by a workers agitation over August 11 helicopter accident.

The announcement was made even as ONGC employees stayed away from work. Wearing black- ribbons in protest, the employees met outside the commission's office in the Mumbai suburb of Bandra to press for their demands that included higher compensation for the next of kin of those killed in the copter crash two days ago and removal of ONGC's chairman and managing director Subir Raha.

"All activities are going on. Operations are normal and we are producing crude oil without any disruption. Infact, oil production is on the rise today," a senior ONGC official was quoted as saying from Mumbai, the commission's headquarters.

The official said the company's Mumbai High fields, which produce 40 per cent of country's total crude oil production of 660,000 barrels a day; had produced 208,889 barrels so far on August 13 as opposed to 203,525 barrels produced on August 12.

The entire Mumbai offshore region, which comprises Mumbai High fields and Heera and Neelam fields, would produce 291,184 barrels on August 13 as compared to 285,945 barrels of oil produced on August 12, he added.

ONGC employees have called for a 'non-co-operation' agitation after a helicopter ferrying oil workers crashed in the Arabian Sea on August 11, killing 27 people.

The Mumbai High Court had on August 12 barred the employees from going on strike in line with the Supreme Court's directive issued last week.

ANI