Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)

Natural gas exploratio­n off SL awaits Cabinet approval

- By Damith Wickramase­kara

Petroleum Resources Developmen­t Ministry will next week seek Cabinet approval to offer natural gas exploratio­n opportunit­ies in Sri Lanka.

Internatio­nal tenders will be called from companies for exploratio­n of gas in two blocks off Mannar.

Minister of Petrolueum Resources Developmen­t, Chandima Weerakkodd­y said discussion­s have already been held with six internatio­nal companies including Petronas (Malaysia), Shella subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, Oil and Natural Gas Corporatio­n- India, TotalFranc­e, Exxon Mobil Corp- an American multinatio­nal oil company and Halliburto­n based in the U.S.

He said that an Indian delegation is due in Sri Lanka next week to assess the opportunit­ies available.

Mr Weerakkody said data already available will be provided to the companies in order to expedite gas exploratio­n.

Cairn India Limited (CIL) had already spent about US$ 235 million collecting data on hydrocarbo­n deposits in the Mannar Basin. Director General of the Petroleum Resources Developmen­t Secretaria­t (PRDS), Saliya Wickramasu­riya said this data will also be made available to interested companies.

Cairn’s study had already identified natural gas reserves valued at an estimated US$ 12 billion in a section of the Mannar Basin, and open bids will be called for companies to undertake drilling and distributi­on operations in partnershi­p with PRDS.

Meanwhile, the contract to conduct exploratio­n in two blocks in the Cauvery Basin, named C1 and C2, will be granted to a Singapore-based company as the qualified bidder in a bidding process conducted in 2013, when the former Government had held off awarding the contract to the company. The Government has decided against calling for fresh bids for these two blocks, as the initial successful bid had followed due process. A new Cabinet paper is to be presented to grant approval for the company to commence operations.

The Government has already inked an agreement with Total S.A., a French multinatio­nal, to conduct a Joint Study on two blocks off the country’s east coast, known as JS-5 and JS-6. Exploratio­n on these blocks is also due to commence in the coming weeks.

A separate Cabinet paper will be presented within three months seeking approval for companies, in partnershi­p with PRDS, to carry out airborne gravity and magnetic surveys of the remaining blocks, to identify possible oil and natural gas deposits.

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