NUCLEAR MINERALS

NUCLEAR MINERALS Heavy metals; such uranium, thorium, radium, plutonium and lithium, are sources of nuclear energy. Uranium is the most impot1 among these metals. The main ores of uranium
pitchblende, uranite, samarskite and thorianite. The US, the leading producer of uranium. South Africa, Austrc Canada, Niger and France are other important produc Colorado, Utah and New Mexico in the USA are important areas of uranium deposits. Australia's import uranium areas are Port Darwin, the Rum Jangle and Radium Hill. The Rand and the Massef Central h significant uranium deposits in South Africa and Fra respectively. Cornwell in England and Katanga in Republic of Congo also possess some uranium.

As compared to uranium, the geographical distribut of thorium is much more restricted. Main ores of thori are monazite, allanite and thorianite. The largest depo of monazite are in India. Florida coast and Idaho in USA and coastal areas of South Africa also have thori deposits.

Beryllium (obtained from beryl, which is found association with feldspar and mica in pegmatites), zir nium (found in zircon in beach sands) and ilimenite (foll in the concentrated form in the beach sands) are otl important nuclear minerals.

Natural Gas in India

Natural Gas in India Most of the natural gas is fc in association with crude oil. It is obtained as a by-pro from petroleum refineries.

Occurrence The gasfield at Cambay (Gujarat) is only non-associated source of natural gas. The Anklesl" gasfield, Bombay High-a comparatively new source, Morah and Naharkatiya gasfields in Assam are among main sources. It is available as seepages in Nom-Cl Miao Punga and Laptang Pung in Arunachal Pradesh, a of the Baramura range in Tripura, and Jwalamukhi Kangra in Himachal Pradesh. Natural gas has also t discovered in Punjab (Ferozepur district), West Bel (Midnapore district), Jammu and Kashmir (in part~ Mausar-Maradpur) and Tamil Nadu (ThanjavurChinglepet districts). Uses Natural gas is used for power generation.

Production of Crude Oil in India

Production of Crude Oil in India In 1950-51,' the production of crude oil in India was 0.3 MT, at Digboi in Assam. The western oil monopolies had created an impres­sion that India had no significant oil resources. But more positive signals were received from the friendly sources. In 1959, through an act of Parliament, the Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) was created to take over the activities of the Oil and Natural Gas Directorate (set up in 1956).

The ONGC struck oil in Ankaleshwar in Gujarat, in Cambay Basin in Gujarat and discovered more oil reserves in Assam. The Oil India Limited (OIL) was set up in 1959 as a joint sector company; it became a fully central government owned enterprise in 1981. It operates in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Orissa, Rajasthan and offshore areas of Mahanadi Basin and the Andaman islands. The OIL struck oil in Arunachal Pradesh in 1987-88 and discovered more oil fields in Assam.

Till 1970, the entire crude oil production expansion was based on the new oil reserves in Gujarat and further oil reserves discovered in Assam. But, the discovery and development of offshore oil resources in the Bombay High Basin in the 1970s changed the oil situation. The crude production rose from a level of 11.7 MT in 1979-80 t MT in 1984-85, to cope with the second oil crisis of ] Domestic crude oil production reached the peak levj 33 metric million tonnes in 1990-91.

Pipelines in India

Pipelines in India

The first of the pipelines to transport crude from oilfields to refineries was a 1152-km-long pipeline with a rated capacity of 40 lakh tonnes established by Oil India Ltd. in 1962-1964 to connect the oilfields in Naharkatiya to Gauhati and Barauni refineries in Assam. Since then, other pipelines have been constructed. The Ankleshwar-Koyali crude pipeline established in 1965, the Nawagam-Kalol-Koyali crude pipeline, the Kalol-Sabarmati crude pipeline, the .Cambay-Dhuvaran gas pipeline, the Ankleshwar-Vadodara associated gas pipeline and the Ankleshwar-Uttaran gas pipeline are in Gujarat.

There is also the Noonmati-Siliguri product pipeline, the Lakwa­Rudrasgar-Barauni crude pipeline finished in 1968, and the Barauni-Haldia pipeline (1966). A 1,085 km pipeline runs from Salaya in Kutch to Koyali and Mathura. A product pipeline from Mathura to Jalandhar has also been laid. Today, the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) owns and operates a network of over 5,200 kilometers of pipeline in all the four regions of the country, supplying about 62.6 MMSCMD of gas per day as a fuel to power plants for generation of about 5,500 MW of power, as feedstock for gas based fertiliser plants to produce about 10 MMTPA of urea.

Oil Refineries in India

Oil Refineries in India Extracted crude oil is refined and processed in refineries to produce light distillates (motor gasoline, LPG, naphtha), middle distillates such as diesel and kerosene, and heavy ends (fuel and lubricating oils, bitumen, petroleum coke). India has witnessed a spectacular growth in refining sector in the recent past.

There are 17 refineries in the country-IS in public sector; one in private sector [installed capacity of 112.54 million metric tonnes per annum (MMTPA)]; and one in joint sector. The one refinery in the joint sector is the 9.69 million tl)nneS capacity Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL). The Reliance Petroleum Limited is the only refinery in the private sector. It was commissioned during 1999-2000. Some of the important refineries are discussed in detail below.

Digboi Refinery It is India's oldest-established in 1901-and the first modern refinery. Set up in Assam, it has an installed capacity of 5.20 lakh tonnes. It is fed crude oil from the Moran and Naharkatiya fields to cater to the requirements of north-east states.


Noonmati Refinery Situated in Noonmati (near Gauhati) is this refinery owned by the Indian Oil Corporation. It started production in 1962 with a capacity of 8.8 lakh tonnes. It refines and processes crude from the Moran and Naharkatiya oilfields.
Visakhapatnam Refinery Started in 1957 to process imported crude, its installed capacity is 15.5 lakh tonnes. It is owned by Hindustan Petroleum.


Barauni Refinery Located near Patna, the Barauni refinery owned by the Indian Oil was set up in collaboration with the USSR. It began production in 1964 and has a refining capacity of 33 lakh tonnes. It receives crude from oilfields in Assam.

Koyali Refinery Commissioned in 1965 with Soviet help, it refines and processes crude oil from Ankaleshwar oilfields and others in northern Gujarat. This refinery near Vadodara is owned by the Indian Oil Corporation. Its capacity has seen a drastic rise-from 20 lakh tonnes at the time of installation to more than 50 lakh tonnes.

Haldia Refinery The Indian Oil-owned refinery near Calcutta was set up with Romanian and French help and it started production in early 1975. It has a capacity of 25 lakh tonnes.

Bongaigaon Refinery The refinery and petrochemical establishment was set up in 1978 west of Gauhati with a capacity of 10 lakh tonnes.

Mathura Refineni The refinery has a refining capacity of 60 lakh tonnes. It caters to the demands of north-western India by utilising crude from Bombay High as well as imported crude. It is owned by the Indian Oil Corporation.

The Trombay Refineries The refinery owned by Hindustan Petroleum Corporation was commissioned in 1954 and the other owned by Bharat Petroleum Corpora­tion started production in 1955. The latter, with a capacity of 52.5 lakh tonnes, is fed imported-mainly, Iranian­crude and oil from the Ankleshwar fields.

Cochin Refinery Set up in 1966 by the Indian Govern­ment in collaboration with the American Phillips Petroleum Company, the refinery processing imported crude has increased its refining capacity from the initial 25 lakh tonnes to about 33 lakh tonnes.

Madras Refinery The Indian Government collaborated with the National Iranian Oil Company and the American AMOCO to set up this complex which started production in 1969. It has a refining capacity of 28 lakh tonnes. The sophisticated refinery was the first to yield superior lubri­cating oils and elemental sulphur.

Petroleum Distribution in India

Distribution in India The mineral oil resources of India
are distributed in three important basins.
1. Upper Assam or the Naharkatia-Moran, Region Major oil wells in this region are Digboi, Naharkatia, Moran, Lakwa, Sibs agar and Rudrasagar.

2. Bombay High This is an offshore source, lying 167 km to the north-west of Mumbai.

3. Cambay Basin This basin lies in the state of Gujarat and major oil-wells are Ankaleshwar, Kosamba, Kalol, Dhalka, Mahesana, Nawagam and Sobhasan.

There are certain areas with known reserves of mineral oil, but where commercial production is not carried out. These areas include­
1. Rajasthan
2. Cauveri basin
3. Krishna-Godavari basin
4. Andaman Islands
5. Foothills of Bengal Himalayas
6. Ganga valley
7. Tripura-Nagaland fold belt.

Then, there are some prospective regions, where the geological structure favours presence of oil reserves. These areas include­

1. Kachchh-Saurashtra region in Gujarat
2. Kerala-Konkan region
3. Mahanadi basin.

Some recently discovered oil-fields include­
1. South Heera, Neelam, Gandhar Phase II, Panna and Mukta in the Bombay High basin
2. Ravva oil field in the offshore of Krishna- Godavari basin.
3. Cauveri basin
4. Arunachal Pradesh
5. Andamans.

Petroleum Distribution in the World

Distribution in the World Over 75 per cent of the world's supply of crude oil comes from three major areas: North America, the West Asian states, Russia and Azerbaijan.

Saudi Arabia has the largest reserves followed by Iraq and the United Arab Emirates. Saudi Arabia is the leading producer followed by the Commonwealth of Independent States and USA.

In the USA, oil was first drilled in Pennsylvia but later Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, California, Wyoming and Lousiana emerged as important centres of oil production. Mexico was another important centre of oil production in Central America, but its importance declined gradually, while Venezuela emerged as an important producer in Latin America. Peru, Colombia, Argentina, Chile are other South American countries which produce oil.

In erstwhile USSR, oil was first struck in the Caucasus region which has been the traditional oil producing region. Other regions include the Volga-Ural region, West Siberia, Lena basin, and Sakhalin islands. Natural Gas is produced in Turkmenistan.
West Asia accounts for 50 per cent of world oil reserves. Oil was struck here in 1909 for the first time at Masjid-e-Sulaiman. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, UAE, Bahrain and Oman are important oil-producing countries.

In Myanmar, oil is found in Irrawadi and Chindwin valleys. In India, Assam, Gujarat and Bombay High are important oil producing regions. Africa has limited reserves which are spread over Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Nigeria.

North Sea is an important oil-producing region in Europe. The oil resources here are shared among UK, Norway, Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands.

Honshu and Hokkaido in Japan and Yangtse Valley and Shansiui province in China are important oil-producing regions of East Asia.

Of the total oil reserves of the world, the former USSR region has 22%, USA, 15.5% and Saudi Arabia, 9%.