Abstract: The correlation between Team Cohesion and Team Performance has been an area of active interest, both among researchers and practitioners. This paper explores the cohesion–performance correlation through a synthesized review of literature on teams, in the specific context of Indian petroleum industry. The paper argues that while Cohesion helps Performance in the initial stages of team formation, excessive Team Cohesion beyond a threshold is detrimental to Team Performance in the context of petroleum industry. The argument is strengthened by triangulation of the literature review with qualitative enquiry to secure specific information about conceptualization of Team Cohesion and its relationships with Team Performance in Oil exploration teams in India. The framework relating to the various elements of team Cohesion at play in such oil exploration teams is proposed.