2Definitions

In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,--

(a) "assistance" means assistance rendered under section 6;

(b) "Board" means the Oil Industry Development Board established under section 3;

(c) "Chairman" means the Chairman of the Board;

(d) "court" means the High Court or the Court of Judicial Commissioner within the local limits of whose jurisdiction the defendant or respondent carries on the whole or a substantial part of his business, and where the Central Government has, by notification in the Official Gazette, and subject to such restrictions, limitations and conditions, as it thinks fit, empowered any court of civil jurisdiction subordinate to the High Court or, as the case may be, the Court of the Judicial Commissioner, to exercise all or any of the powers conferred by this Act, such court;

(e) "crude oil" means petroleum in its natural state before it is refined or otherwise treated but from which water and foreign substances have been extracted;

(f) "fertilisers" means such oilbased chemical compounds which when employed in agriculture provide either single or multiple plant nutrients in any one or more of the forms of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash;

(g) "member" means a member of the Board and includes the Chairman;

(h) "mineral oil" includes petroleum and natural gas;

(i) "natural gas" means gas consisting primarily of hydrocarbons obtained from oil wells or gas wells;

(j) "oil industrial concern" means any company, corporation or co-operative society, which is engaged or which is to engage in any activity referred to in clause (k);

(k) "oil industry" includes all activities by way of prospecting or exploring for or production of mineral oil, refining, processing, transportation, storage, handling, and marketing, of mineral oil, production and marketing of all products, down-stream of an oil refinery and the production of fertilisers and petro-chemicals and all activities directly or indirectly connected therewith;

(l) "petro-chemicals" means chemicals, whether organic or inorganic, derived from petroleum including crude oil, natural gas, condensates, refined petroleum fractions and refinery gases;

(m) "petroleum product" means any commodity made from petroleum or natural gas and includes refined crude oil, processed crude petroleum, residuum from crude petroleum cracking stock, uncracked fuel oil, fuel oil, treated crude oil residuum, casing head gasoline, natural gas gasoline, naphtha, distillate gasoline, kerosene, bitumen, asphalt and tar, waste oil, blended gasoline, lubricating oil, blends or mixture of oil with one or more liquid products or by-products derived from oil or gas and blends or mixtures of two or more liquid products or by-products derived from oil condensate and gas or petroleum hydrocarbons not specified hereinbefore;

(n) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act.