Bombay High is an offshore oilfield 160 kilometres (99.4 mi) off the coast of Mumbai (Bombay)

Mumbai

Mumbai , formerly known as Bombay in English, is the capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the most populous city in India, and the fourth most populous city in the world, with a total metropolitan area population of approximately 20.5 million...

, India. The oil operations are run by India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited is an Indian state-owned oil and gas company headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is one of the largest Asia-based oil and gas exploration and production companies, and produces around 77% of India's total crude oil production and around 81% of...

 (ONGC).

Bombay High field was discovered by a Russian and Indian oil exploration team operating from the seismic exploration vessel Academic Arkhangelsky during mapping of the Gulf of Khambhat

Gulf of Khambhat

The Gulf of Khambhat is an inlet of the Arabian Sea along the west coast of India, in the state of Gujarat. It is about 80 miles in length, and divides the Kathiawar peninsula to the west from the eastern part of Gujarat state on the east. The Narmada and Tapti rivers empty into the Gulf...

 (earlier Cambay) in 1964-67. The naming of the field is attributed to a team from a survey run in 1965 analysed in the Rashmi building in Peddar Road

Peddar Road

Pedder Road is the former name of a busy arterial road in South Mumbai passing through the affluent Cumballa Hill neighborhood. It was named after Mr. W. G. Pedder, Municipal Commissioner . He was in the Bombay Civil Service, 1855-1879, and on his retirement was appointed Secretary to the Revenue...

, Cumballa Hill, Bombay. The first offshore well was sunk in 1974.

Every oil resource rock requires oil trap structures which are mainly salt dome, coral reefs, fault trap and fold trap. In case Bombay High it is anticlinal fold trap and this is the most probable reason to call it "Bombay High".

Production

As of 2004, it supplied 14% of India's oil requirement and accounted for about 38% of all domestic production.

On 27 July 2005, a major fire destroyed the production platform, leaving at least 11 people dead despite rescue measures taken by the Indian Coast Guard

Indian Coast Guard

The Indian Coast Guard is a branch of the Indian Armed Forces. Its mission is the protection of India's maritime interests and maritime law enforcement with jurisdiction over both territorial and international waters....

. The platform accounted for 110000 oilbbl/d, or 15% of India's oil production. Rebuilding this is expected to take upwards of 4 months and estimated to cost around Rs. 1200 crore or US$300 million.

Crude oil produced from Bombay High is of very good quality as compared to crudes produced in middle east. Bombay High crude has more than 60% paraffinic content while light Arabian crude has only 25% paraffin.

In November 2009, output of Bombay High fields, that accounts for half of the India's domestic oil production, fell 5.3% to 347197 oilbbl/d.