Energy has become one of the prime necessities for all types of development works. Without energy, the existing level of development cannot be sustained and poverty alleviation and improvement in living standards will also be impossible. However, with the environmental concerns being at the centre stage, development of energy and its use must be environment-friendly. This requires a sustainable use of the resources so that the future generations would not face any scarcity of energy and leaving air, water and soil in a clean state for the future. The need is for 'clean' energy sources.
The World Energy Council forecasts that global energy consumption will rise by 50 per cent between 1990 and 2020 unless there is a dramatic increase in poverty: electricity consumption is expected to double. This in itself would not be sufficient to bridge the gap between the developing and developed worlds with respect to energy use.
The main sources of energy consisting of coal, oil and natural gas, are non-renewable and at the present rate of consumption, they will not last long; it is estimated that the world has 250 years of coal reserves, 40 years of oil, 70 years of gas. These resources are not distributed uniformly and their prices are controlled by the main producers, determined mainly by how much they release to the market and how much they want to preserve for their own future needs. At the same time, burning of these fuels is responsible for the increasing emission of greenhouse gases creating a major problem. The world is faced with a two-pronged problem -
it is not possible to live without energy for which the hydrocarbon fuels are a must and
it is their use that has led the world to the global warming and consequent climate change disaster.
The development of clean, renewable sources of energy with easy access for all has become an urgency.
Non-renewable energy sources
There are three major forms of fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas, all of which are non-renewable in nature. These were formed many hundreds of millions of years ago even before the time of the dinosaurs - hence the name fossil fuels. The age they were formed is called the Carboniferous Period. It was part of the Paleozoic Era. "Carboniferous" gets its name from carbon, the basic element in coal and other fossil fuels. This Period occurred from about 360 to 286 million years ago. At that time, the land was supposed to be covered with swamps filled with huge trees, ferns and other large leafy plants. The water and seas were supposed to be filled with the green algae. As the trees and plants died, they sank to the bottom of the swamps or oceans. They formed layers of a spongy material called peat. Over many hundreds of years, the peat was covered by sand and clay and other minerals, which turned into sedimentary rock. More and more rock piled on pressing down the peat. The peat was squeezed and squeezed until the water came out of it and it eventually, over millions of years, turned into coal, oil or petroleum, and natural gas.
(i) Coal
Coal is a hard, black colored rock-like substance made up of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and varying amounts of sulphur. The earliest known use of coal was in China. Coal from the Fu-shun mine in northeastern China may have been used to smelt copper as early as 3,000 years ago.
Coal is No. 3 with respect to different energy sources and more than one-fourth of the world's energy comes from this source. 36% of the total electricity generated in the world comes from coal. It is also used for heating purposes in industries (for boilers) and in homes. Approximately 13% of total hard coal production is currently used by the steel industry and almost 70% of total global steel production is dependent on coal. Use of coal for running trains (steam engines) has been discontinued mainly for the environmental problem generated by smoke and also because better engine based on diesel as the fuel or electricity has been invented. In a few industrial processes, coal is used directly as a source of carbon.
The distribution of coal reserves among the main producers is shown below:
The main consumers with their percentage share are shown below:
Coal reserves are found in almost every country. The biggest reserves are in the USA, Russia, China and India. The total proven coal reserves of all the countries are estimated at 847 billion tones. Over 5540 million tonnes (Mt) of hard coal is currently produced worldwide along with 945 Mt of brown coal or lignite. Much of coal produced is used in the country in which it is mined; only around 16% of the production goes to the international market. The top ten hard coal producing countries in 2007 were:
PR China
2549Mt
Russia
241Mt
USA
981Mt
Indonesia
231Mt
India
452Mt
Poland
90Mt
Australia
323Mt
Kazakhstan
83Mt
South Africa
244Mt
Colombia
72Mt
(Source: International Energy Agency 2008)
To explore coal in an area, geology of the area is studied in detail, a geological map is prepared and geochemical as well as geophysical surveys are done. If the area is found to have potential, exploration starts with drilling at a few locations and if coal is struck and the deposits are found to have economic feasibility, coal is mined either by surface or 'opencast' mining or by underground or 'deep' mining. The method to be used is determined by the nature of the coal deposit. Underground mining currently accounts for about 60% of world coal production; although in several important coal producing countries surface mining is more common. For example, surface mining accounts for around 80% of production in Australia; while in the USA it is used for about 67% of production.
If the coal deposit is very close to the surface, the preferred mining method is surface mining or opencast mining. In this method, 90% or more of the coal can be recovered which is much higher than in underground mining. The opencast mining may take up a large area and use equipments like draglines for removing the overburden, power shovels, large trucks to carry away the topsoil and coal, bucket wheel excavators, conveyor belts, etc. Explosives are used to break up the overburden of soil and rock, and to expose the coal seam which is then drilled, fractured, and carried away.
In underground mining, two methods: room-and-pillar and long wall mining are used. In room-and-pillar mining, coal deposits are mined by cutting a network of 'rooms' into the coal seam and leaving behind 'pillars' of coal to support the roof of the mine. These pillars can be up to 40% of the total coal in the seam - although this coal can sometimes be recovered at a later stage. In longwall mining, the coal from a section of the seam is fully extracted using mechanical shearers. The coal 'face' can vary in length from 100-350 m. Self-advancing, hydraulically-powered supports temporarily hold up the roof while coal is extracted. After extraction, the roof is allowed to collapse. Over 75% of the coal in the deposit can be extracted from panels of coal that can extend 3 km through the coal seam. To prevent accidents, the mining personnel must be highly skilled and well-trained in the use of complex, state-of-the-art instruments and equipment.
After coal is brought out, it is cleaned to remove dirt, rock, ash, sulfur, and other unwanted materials, increasing the heating value of the coal. Depending on the amounts and types of carbon it contains and on the amount of heat energy it can produce, coal belongs to one of four types -
lignite (25 - 35 % carbon),
subbituminous (35 - 45 % carbon),
bituminous (45 - 86 % carbon),
anthracite (86 - 97 % carbon).
Lignite is relatively young in geologic age and is used mostly for electricity generation. Subbituminous coal has a higher heating value than that of lignite, while bituminous coal has still higher heating value (2-3 times that of lignite). Anthracite has a slightly lower heating value than bituminous coal. Subbituminous coal is much older than lignite and bituminous coal much older than subbituminous coal. Subbituminous and bituminous coal are also used in power generation and in iron and steel industry.
Environmental problems of coal use
Greenhouse gas emissions
Use of coal as fuel results in emission of large volumes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, the main greenhouse gas linked to global warming. The burning process also produces large volumes of nitrogen oxides (NOx) from nitrogen and oxygen in air, sulphur dioxide (SOx) from the sulphur content of coal, and also smoke containing suspended particulates. Both SOx and NOx can lead to acid rain problem by undergoing oxidation in the atmosphere and then reacting with water moisture. NOx gases interact with hydrocarbons in the atmosphere in presence of sunlight producing photochemical smog that not only reduces visibility but also contains extremely harmful components such as ozone and peroxyacylnitrates (PAN compounds). These compounds are extremely harmful to plants as they destroy the pigment chlorophyll and reduce production; these are also human eyes and general health; they also bleach paints and varnishes, and historical paintings, monuments and statues will suffer disfigurement if exposed to these compounds for long.
Coal burning can reduce toxic metals like mercury which may settle in water bodies polluting the same. The mercury in the water can build up in fish and shellfish, and can be harmful to animals and people who eat them.
The coal industry is trying to minimize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by improving coal combustion efficiency. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has found that replacing older coal-fired power stations with larger more efficient plants could reduce global GHG emissions by 5.5%. Installing devices for carbon capture and storage (CCS) can further reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere. Capturing the CO2 emitted by the use of coal and injecting it for storage in deep geological formations is a technological solution to cut down in greenhouse gas emissions. The coal industry is also trying to reduce emission of methane (its global warming potential, GWP is 23 times more than that of CO2), another highly potent GHG through recovery of the same released during mining.
(ii) Oil and Natural Gas
Oil is another fossil fuel. It was also thought to have formed more than 300 million years ago. Some scientists say that tiny diatoms were the source of oil. Diatoms were sea creatures the size of a pin head. They do one thing just like plants; they can convert sunlight directly into stored energy. The diatoms were buried under sediment and other rock which squeezed the diatoms and the energy in them could not escape. The carbon eventually turned into oil under great pressure and heat. As the earth changed and moved and folded, pockets where oil and natural gas can be found were formed.
Oil has been in use for more than 5,000-6,000 years. The ancient Sumerians, Assyrians and Babylonians used crude oil and asphalt ("pitch") collected from large seeps from the banks of the Euphrates River. The ancient Egyptians, used liquid oil as a medicine for wounds, and oil has been used in lamps to provide light. In North America, Native Americans used blankets to skim oil off the surface of streams and lakes and used the same as medicine and to make canoes water-proof. During the war of American Independence, Native Americans taught George Washington's troops to treat frostbite with oil.
On August 27, 1859, Edwin L. Drake discovered oil at his well near Titusville, Pennsylvania. He found oil under ground and a way that could pump it to the surface. The well pumped the oil into barrels made out of wood. This method of drilling for oil is still being used today all over the world in areas where oil can be found below the surface. Oil and natural gas are now drilled mechanically from deep below the earth's surface, pumped out by oil rigs and transported through pipelines or by ship.
Oil cannot be used in the form it is obtained. It is taken to refineries, where crude oil is heated and fractionated to get a range of useful products, such as petrol, diesel, kerosene, naphtha, etc. Thousands of other products are obtained from oil through various processes in the Refinery as well as in the petrochemical factories.
Natural gas is also a non-renewable fossil fuel. There is approximately 5,149.6 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves left in the world. Of all the fossil fuels, natural gas comes second after coal pushing petroleum to the third place. Russia is the largest producer of natural gas in the world. Natural gas is considered a clean fuel since it emits the fewest harmful gases when burnt in comparison to oil and coal. Not only it provides an energy source, it is also the raw material for production of a wide range of different products, polymers, synthetic fabrics, etc.
Natural gas found separately or along with petroleum contains mainly methane (CH4) gas (~98%), but also some amounts of ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), butane (C4H10), pentane (C5H12), and traces of hexane (C6H14) and heptane (C7H16). CNG or compressed natural gas used for running vehicles and other uses is almost 100% methane. Natural gas is also a starting material for obtaining a large number of other compounds including various types of polymers. For this purpose, the natural gas is thermally cracked in a Gas Cracker to obtain ethane (C2H4) and propene (C3H6) which can be converted into a variety of petrochemicals. For example, the Assam Gas Cracker Project, coming up at Lepetkata in Dibrugarh district, Assam will use natural gas and naphtha to obtain the following products:
High Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE)
110,000 TPA
Linear Low Density Poly Ethylene (LLDPE)
110,000 TPA
Polypropylene (PP)
60,000 TPA
Raw Pyrolysis Gasoline (RPG)
55,750 TPA
Fuel Oil
12,500 TPA
TPA Tonnes per annum
Petroleum and Gas Reserves of the world
The overall situation with respect to petroleum and natural gas reserves of the world is given in Table 2.21. A few of the biggest producers of oil are described below.
Table 2.21. Proven oil and natural gas reserves of the world. Proven reserves are estimated quantities that analysis of geologic and engineering data demonstrates with reasonable certainty to be recoverable under existing economic and operating conditions. (Source Oil & Gas Journal, Vol. 105.48, December 24, 2007).
Country/Region
Oil (Billion Barrels)
Natural Gas (Trillion Cubic Feet)
Canada
178.592
58.200
Mexico
11.650
13.850
United States
20.972
211.085
North America
211.214
283.135
Argentina
2.587
15.750
Barbados
0.002
0.005
Belize
0.007
0
Bolivia
0.465
26.500
Brazil
12.182
12.280
Chile
0.150
3.460
Colombia
1.506
4.342
Cuba
0.124
2.500
Ecuador
4.517
0.000
Guatemala
0.083
0
Peru
0.383
11.928
Suriname
0.088
0
Trinidad and Tobago
0.728
18.770
Venezuela
87.035
166.260
Central & South America
109.857
261.795
Albania
0.199
0.030
Austria
0.050
0.570
Bulgaria
0.015
0.200
Croatia
0.079
1.008
Czech Republic
0.015
0.140
Denmark
1.188
2.490
France
0.120
0.257
Germany
0.367
9.000
Greece
0.010
0.070
Hungary
0.020
0.286
Ireland
0
0.350
Italy
0.407
3.325
Netherlands
0.100
50.000
Norway
6.865
79.130
Poland
0.096
5.820
Romania
0.600
2.225
Serbia
0.078
1.700
Slovakia
0.009
0.500
Spain
0.150
0.090
Turkey
0.300
0.300
United Kingdom
3.600
14.550
Europe
14.268
172.041
Azerbaijan
7.000
30.000
Belarus
0.198
0.100
Georgia
0.035
0.300
Kazakhstan
30.000
100.000
Kyrgyzstan
0.040
0.200
Lithuania
0.012
0
Russia
60.000
1,680.000
Tajikistan
0.012
0.200
Turkmenistan
0.600
100.000
Ukraine
0.395
39.000
Uzbekistan
0.594
65.000
Eurasia
98.886
2,014.800
Bahrain
0.125
3.250
Iran
138.400
948.200
Iraq
115.000
111.940
Israel
0.002
1.075
Jordan
0.001
0.213
Kuwait
104.000
56.015
Oman
5.500
30.000
Qatar
15.207
905.300
Saudi Arabia
266.751
253.107
Syria
2.500
8.500
United Arab Emirates
97.800
214.400
Yemen
3.000
16.900
Middle East
748.286
2,548.900
Algeria
12.200
159.000
Angola
9.035
9.530
Benin
0.008
0.040
Cameroon
0.200
4.770
Chad
1.500
0.000
Congo (Brazzaville)
1.600
3.200
Congo (Kinshasa)
0.180
0.035
Cote d'Ivoire (IvoryCoast)
0.100
1.000
Egypt
3.700
58.500
Equatorial Guinea
1.100
1.300
Ethiopia
0.0004
0.880
Gabon
2.000
1.000
Ghana
0.015
0.800
Libya
41.464
50.100
Mauritania
0.100
1.000
Morocco
0.001
0.055
Mozambique
0
4.500
Namibia
0
2.200
Nigeria
36.220
183.990
Rwanda
0
2.000
Somalia
0
0.200
South Africa
0.015
- -
Sudan
5.000
3.000
Tanzania
0
0.230
Tunisia
0.400
2.300
Africa
114.838
489.630
Afghanistan
0
1.750
Australia
1.500
30.000
Bangladesh
0.028
5.000
Brunei
1.100
13.800
Burma (Myanmar)
0.050
10.000
China
16.000
80.000
India
5.625
37.960
Indonesia
4.370
93.900
Japan
0.044
0.738
Malaysia
4.000
83.000
New Zealand
0.055
1.048
Pakistan
0.289
28.000
Papua New Guinea
0.088
8.000
Philippines
0.139
3.480
Taiwan
0.002
0.220
Thailand
0.460
11.697
Vietnam
0.600
6.800
Asia & Oceania
34.350
415.393
World Total
1,331.698
6,185.694
Saudi Arabia is the major producer of petroleum with a quarter of the world's proven oil reserves and production of over 4 gigabarrels (600 million tons) of oil per year (17 tons per second). As of 2007, Saudi Arabia has 264.3 billion barrels (42,020,000,000 m³) of "proven" oil reserves, around 21% of proven, conventional world oil reserves. Although Saudi Arabia has around 80 oil and gas fields, more than half of its oil reserves are contained in only eight fields, and more than half its production comes from one field, the Ghawar field.
Another major producer of petroleum is Canada, whose proven oil reserves are estimated at 179.2 billion barrels (28,490,000,000 m³) as of 2007, placing it second only to Saudi Arabia. Over 95% of these reserves are in the oil sands deposits in the province of Alberta. Some reserves are also found in Saskatchewan and offshore Newfoundland. Total Canadian oil production was about 1.2 gigabarrels in 2006, giving Canada about 150 years of reserves at current production rates. Over 99% of Canadian oil exports are sent to the United States, making Canada, not Saudi Arabia, the United States' largest supplier of oil.
Iran had the world's second largest reserves of conventional crude oil at 105 gigabarrels as of 2007, although it ranks third if Canadian reserves of non-conventional oil are included. This is roughly 10 percent of the world's total proven petroleum reserves. Iran is the fourth largest oil producer in the world and is OPEC's second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia. As of 2006 it was producing an estimated 3.8 million barrels per day (6,000 m³/d) (bbl/d), equal to 5 percent of global production. At 2006 rates of production, Iran's oil reserves would last 98 years if no new oil was found.
Another major producer, Iraq has proven oil reserves of 115 billion barrels (18,300,000,000 m³). International geologists and consultants have estimated that unexplored territory in Iraq may contain an estimated additional 45 to 100 billion barrels (bbls) of recoverable oil. In 2006, Iraq's oil production averaged 2.0 million barrels per day (3,200 m³/d) (bbl/d), down from around 2.6 Mbbl/d (4,100 m³/d) of production prior to the US invasion in 2003. At this rate of production, Iraq would have 158 years of reserves if no new oil was discovered.
United Arab Emirates and Kuwait as of 2007 are nearly tied for the fourth largest conventional oil reserves in the world at 98 and 97 gigabarrels, respectively. Both countries produce approximately 0.8 gigabarrels per year, leaving around 100 years of reserves in each. Abu Dhabi has 94 percent of the UAE's oil reserves while most of Kuwait's oil reserves are in the Burgan Field, the world's second largest oil field after Saudi Arabia's Ghawar.
Venezuela had 77.2 gigabarrels of proven conventional oil reserves as of 2007 (80 years of future production), the largest of any country in the Western Hemisphere. In addition it has non-conventional oil deposits similar in size to Canada's - at 1,200 billion barrels (190,000,000,000 m³) approximately equal to the world's reserves of conventional oil. Venezuela's Orinoco tar sands are less viscous than Canada's Athabasca oil sands and they can be produced by more conventional means, although being buried deeper, they cannot be extracted by surface mining. Venezuela has moved to add them to its conventional reserves to give nearly 350 billion barrels (56,000,000,000 m³) of total oil reserves. This would give it the largest oil reserves in the world, even ahead of Saudi Arabia. In October 2007 the Venezuelan proven oil reserves have risen to 100 billion barrels (16,000,000,000 m³). Thus, Venezuela continues to be the second or third largest supplier of oil to the United States, sending about 1.5 million barrels per day (2,400 m³/d).
Russian production was 9.7 Mbbl/d (15,400 m³/d) in 2006. Eastern Siberia has still remained unexplored and it was estimated in 2007 that another 35 million barrels (5,600,000 m³) of oil exist in the region. Over 70 percent of Russian oil is exported and 30 percent is refined locally.
Libya holds the largest oil reserves in Africa and the ninth largest in the world with 41.5 billion barrels (6,600,000,000 m³) in 2007. Oil production was 1.8 million barrels per day (2,900 m³/d) in 2006, giving Libya 63 years of reserves at current production rates.
Nigeria with 36.2 billion barrels (5,760,000,000 m³) of proven reserves in 2007 ranks as the largest oil producer in Africa and the 11th largest in the world, averaging 2.28 million barrels per day (3,620 m³/d) in 2006. At current rates this would last 43 years if no new oil is found. Nigeria is the world's eighth largest exporter of crude oil and sends 42% of its exports to the USA. The oil sector accounts for 95% of its export revenues.
In 2007, Mexico has 12.4 billion barrels (1,970,000,000 m³) of proven oil reserves. Mexico was the sixth-largest oil producer in the world in 2006, producing 3.71 million barrels per day (5,900 m³/d). At this rate, its oil reserves will last just 9 years and Mexican oil production has started to decline rapidly.
History of Oil in India
The story of oil exploration in India began in the dense jungles and swamps of Assam in the 19th century. The Directors of the AR & T Co. in 1888 took a decision to drill a well at Digboi. Heading the team was W.L. Lake, an employee of the AR & T Co. and an oil enthusiast. Noticing the oil seepages around Borbhil he prodded his colleagues and then his superiors into embarking on an oil adventure. Lake started drilling Digboi Well No-1 in September 1889. A month later, on 19 October, a most encouraging oil presence was established at 178 ft. in soft sandstone and it was anticipated that the well might yield as much as 80 barrels of oil per day. The production however, rapidly diminished and it was evident that it was just a small pocket. Drilling was, accordingly, recommenced and month after sweltering month the hole was deepened. Legend has it that Lake used to urge his men "Dig boy, dig", hence the name of the place. In November 1890 the well was completed as a producer at a total depth of 662 ft. The initial production was 200 gallons per day. The oil industry of India was thus officially born.
After the successful completion of the first well, Digboi Well No-2 was started in February 1891 in the same area, only to be abandoned as dry at 720 ft. The drilling activities of AR&T progressed satisfactorily with 11 wells yielding oil in 1894. A new firm - the Assam Oil Company (AOC), led by the Chairman, Lord Ribblesdale - was promoted in 1899 to take over the petroleum interests of AR&T, including the Digboi and Makum concessions. The AOC inherited 14 producing wells, with a total production of 50 barrels of oil per day. Production almost trebled from 43 bpd in 1901 to 120 bpd in 1902, rising steadily to 247 bpd in 1911, and reaching a maximum of 435 bpd in 1917. By 1920, the AOC had completed 80 wells with a total average production of 350 bpd.
Nahorkatiya oilfield was discovered in 1953. However, by 1956 only 16 wells had been drilled, and evidence suggested subsurface faults, which could have acted either as barriers or conduits to oil movement. Despite this meager evidence, the AOC announced in September 1956 that proved and probable reserves in the Nahorkatiya area were sufficient to plan a production target of nearly 2.5 million tons of oil per year with 45 million cubic feet of gas per day. On the basis of this assurance, fortified later in the year by new discoveries at Hugrijan and Moran, a public sector refinery was initiated in 1959 at Guwahati with help from Romania. It was commissioned in 1962.
The success of Nahorkatiya Well No-1 set in motion a series of activities. The Burma Oil Company signed a Promotion Agreement with the Government of India (GoI) in January 1958 to form a company - Oil India Private Limited (OIL) - to take over the management of the AOC-discovered fields of Nahorkatiya and Moran. OIL was incorporated on 18 February 1959, with two-thirds of the shares held by Burmah Oil Company (BOC) and the rest by Government of India. The Agreement assured Burmah Oil a dividend of 10 % and Digboi Refinery 1.3 million barrels of oil per year. On 27 July 1961, the Government of India share holding in the Company increased from one third to one-half and a 50:50 partnership. OIL pioneered Asia's first fully automated pipeline from its oilfields in Upper Assam to the public sector refineries at Guwahati and Bongaigoan in Lower Assam and to the Barauni Refinery in Bihar. Construction of the 401 Km long 16 inch line from Nahorkatiya to Guwahati Refinery was completed on 7 March 1962 and pumping to the Refinery started on 26 April. Construction of the 757 km long 14-inch line to Barauni was completed on 11 February 1963 and pumping to the Refinery started on 30 June 1964. The 1158 km long pipeline crosses 78 rivers, including the mighty Brahmaputra and meanders through paddy fields and forests and through the world's greatest watershed in the Teesta areas. There are 9 pumping stations, 17 repeater stations and a terminal at Barauni. Since 1968, crude oil from ONGC's Upper Assam oilfields is also being pumped through the OIL pipeline.
Perhaps the most salutary fall-out of the Nahorkatiya discovery was the hastening of the decision to create a petroleum exploration group under Oil and Natural Gas Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources what was ultimately to become the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC).
Oil industry in India
India has significant amounts of oil and natural gas, and four of India's top six revenue-generating companies are in the oil and natural gas business. Oil in commercial quantities was first discovered in Assam in 1889. The Oil and Natural Gas Commission was established in 1954 as a department of the Geological Survey of India, but a 1959 act of Parliament made it, in effect, the country's national oil company. Oil India Limited, at one time one-third government owned, was also established in 1959 and developed an oil field that had been discovered by the Burmah Oil Company. By 1981 the government had purchased all of the Burmah Oil Company's assets in India and completely owned Oil India Limited. The Oil and Natural Gas Commission discovered oil in Gujarat in 1959 and opened other fields in the 1960s and 1970s.
The early oil fields discovered in India were of modest size. Oil production in India amounted to 200,000 tons in 1950 and 400,000 tons in 1960. By the early 1970s, production had increased to more than 8 million tons. In 1974 the Oil and Natural Gas Commission discovered a large field, the Bombay High, offshore from Bombay. Production of Indian oil from that field was responsible for the rapid growth of the country's total crude oil production in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s. In 1989, oil production peaked at 34 million tons, of which Bombay High accounted for 22 million tons. In the early 1990s, wells were shut in offshore fields that had been inefficiently exploited, and production fell to 27 million tons in 1993. That amount did not meet India's needs, and 30.7 million tons of crude oil had to be imported in 1993.
India has thirty-five major fields onshore (primarily in Assam and Gujarat) and four major offshore oil fields (near Bombay, south of Pondicherry, and in the Palk Strait). Of the 4,828 wells, in 1990 2,514 were producing at a rate of 664,582 barrels per day. The oil field with the greatest output is Bombay High, with 402,797 barrels per day production in 1990, about fifteen times the amount produced by the next largest fields. Total reserves are estimated at 6.1 billion barrels.
The petroleum refineries in India are given in Table 2.22.
Substantial quantities of natural gas in India are produced in association with crude oil production. Until the 1980s, most of this gas was flared off because there were no pipelines or processing facilities to bring it to customers. In the early 1980s, large investments were made to bring gases from Bombay High and other offshore fields ashore for use as fuel and to supply feedstock to fertilizer and petrochemical plants, which also had to be constructed or converted to use gas. By the mid-1980s, natural gas could be delivered to facilities near Bombay and near Kandla in Gujarat. In the mid-1990s, a 1,700-kilometer trans-India pipeline was built linking the facilities near Bombay and Kandla to a series of gas-based fertilizer plants and power stations.
Table 2.22. Refineries in India (July, 2005).
S/N
Name of the company
Location
Refining Capacity (MMTPA)*
1.
Indian Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL)
Guwahati
1.00
2.
IOCL
Barauni
6.00
3.
IOCL
Koyali
13.70
4.
IOCL
Haldia
6.00
5.
IOCL
Mathura
8.00
6.
IOCL
Digboi
0.65
7.
IOCL
Panipat
6.00
8.
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL)
Mumbai
5.50
9.
HPCL
Visakhapatnam
7.50
10.
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited
Mumbai
6.90
11.
Chennai Petroleum Corporation Limited (CPCL)
Manali
9.50
12.
CPCL
Nagapattnam
1.00
13.
Kochi Refineries Ltd. (KRL)
Kochi
7.50
14.
Bongaigaon Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd.
Bongaigaon
2.35
15.
Numaligarh Refinery Ltd.(NRL)
Numaligarh
3.00
16.
Mangalore Refinery & Petrochemicals Ltd.
Mangalore
9.69
17.
Tatipaka refinery (ONGC)
Andhra Pradesh
0.078
18.
Reliance Petroleum Ltd. (Pvt. Sector)
Jamnagar
33.00
TOTAL
127.37
* Million Metric Tonnes per Annum
