After Coal, Petroleum is the major energy source in India. Also called as Mineral oil, there is various importance of Petroleum –
- Petroleum serves as the fuel for heat and lighting, as lubricants for machinery and as raw material for manufacturing industries.
- Refineries of petroleum act as the ‘Nodal industries’. Nodal industries are those industries around which such industries develop which manufacture the goods produced by the Nodal industries. Petroleum refineries serve as the Nodal industries for synthetic textile, fertiliser and for chemical industries.
Petroleum occurs in the tertiary age through anticlines and fault traps in the rock formations. It also occurs where oil is trapped in the crest of the upfold in the regions of anticlines, folding or domes. This layer of oil is a porous limestone or sandstone from which oil flows and because of the non-porous layers, oil is stopped from rising or sinking. Between the porous and non-porous rocks, petroleum is found in fault traps. From Mumbai High, 63% of India’s petroleum production was obtained and 18% and 16% from Gujarat and Assam respectively. In Gujarat, Ankleshwar is the most important field. The oldest oil-producing state in India is the Assam where Digboi, Nahrkatiya and Moran-Hugrijan are the important oil fields.
