The oil and gas reserves at Bombay High are among some of the newly discovered in the world. Bombay High itself was discovered by a joint academic exploration team of Russian and Indian scientists mapping the floor of the Gulf of Cambay from 1964-67. Then in February 1974 the oil fields within Bombay High were discovered and the first wells were sunk to begin extracting the reserves. India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation control the drilling platforms at Bombay High North and Bombay High South. Oil is pumped from the reserves through gas lift methods which push the oil closer to the surface allowing for higher production numbers. Recent statistics from ONGC show that the company has 125 wells spread throughout the Bombay High fields.
At its peak in the late 1980s, the oil fields at Bombay High produced around 400,000 barrels of oil each day, a pace that would continue for nearly five years. These numbers began declining however in the 1990s, dropping to a current average of 220,000 barrels of oil per day. In addition to oil, the Bombay High complex collects 10 million metric standard cubic meters of gas each day. In July 2005 a massive fire completely destroyed the drilling rig at Bombay High North, severely disrupting the collection of crude oil from the reserves. The rig accounted for roughly 88,000-110,000 barrels per day.
In 2001 ONGC began a $1.6 billion program to improve production processes and facilities at Bombay High. ONGC's plan is to be implemented in two different phases over the next few decades with the goal of improving and increasing the collection of crude oil from the fields. Phase I of the project called for advancing the efficiency of collection procedures and new attempts to control the decline of oil and gas production. Phase II of the redevelopment plan called for further moves to improve efficiency at Bombay High. The plan includes the drilling of 73 new wells across the complex as well as diverting the pipes of 38 current wells with poor production rates. Among the other plans to redevelop the Bombay High oil field are plans for a new rig at the site of the former Bombay High North rig (to be completed in 2010), new power generating systems, and new pipelines for transporting oil and gas to the mainland.
Crude oil produced from Bombay High is unique in comparison to crude pumped from other fields around the world. While the majority of the world's oil comes from reserves in the Middle East, Arabian oil is lower in quality with a 25% paraffin content. Crude from Bombay High however is higher quality oil with paraffin contents around 63%.