This is the second largest oil producing area of India accounting for 17.60,per cent of the country ‘ s output 2000-01. It occupies about 115,000 sq km of area in the coastal plains of the state.
Two oil bearing belts are well marked: (a) along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Cambay wherein Ankaleshwar and Cambay are main oil-fields, and (b) from Kaira to Mehsana where Kalol, Sanand, Nawgam, Bacharaji and Mehsana are important oil-fields. Bulk of the production comes from Bharuch, Mehsana, Ahmadabad, Kheda, Vadodara and Surat districts of the state.
(a) Ankleshwar oil area occupies about 30 sq km of land in Bharuch district. Here oil was discovered in July 1958 and commercial production started in 1961. Oil occurs in rocks belonging to the Eocene period at a depth of 11,800 to 12,000 m. About 170 oil wells have been bored with total potential of 30 lakh tonnes. The oil is rich in gasoline and kerosene. Entire production is sent to the refineries at Koyali and Trombay.
(b) Cambay-Lunej Area-this is also called Gandhar field. It lies 60 km west of Vadodara. Oil is found is sedimentary rocks of the Tertiary period. Drilling operations started in September 1958 at Lunej. The estimated reserves are 30 million tons of crude oil. The total production includes about 15 lakh tones of oil per year and 8-10 lakh cubic meters of natural gas per day. The average depth of wells in the Cambay basin is just less than 1,700 m. The crude produced is very light with a sculpture content of less than 0.1 per cent but higher wax content (11- 13%).
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(C) Ahmadabad-Kalol Area-this area lies north of the Cambay Basin around the city of Ahmadabad and extends up to Mehsana in the north. Kalol lying 25 km north of Ahmadabad city is an important oil field of the area. Here ‘pools’ of heavy crude are trapped in chunks of coal at a depth of 1,400 m. Oil production has started since 1961.
Other important oil bearing areas include Nawgam (24 km south of Ahmadabad yielding both oil and gas), Sanand (16 km west of Ahmadabad producing both oil and gas), Dholka (south of Ahmadabad), Vasana, Barkrol (south-east of Ahmadabad), Mehsana (north of Ahmadabad), Kadi, Sobhasan, Kosamba, Kathana and B acharaji etc. Crude from these areas is sent to Koyali refinery.