More international bids for offshore drilling

by L. S. Ananda WEDAARACHCHI

Several offshore oil blocks in the North and Northwest coast will be given to international oil companies for exploration, Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRD’s) Director General Saliya Wickramasuriya said.

He said that the Government will conduct an international licensing auction in several oil exploration blocks. ONGC, Gasprom, Chevron and Total have shown varying degrees of interest in Sri Lanka’s petroleum exploration, he said.

Fifteen blocks ranging from 3,000 sq. km. to 4,000 sq. km. in the Mannar Basin and Carvery Basin in the North have been blocked out for prospective oil and gas deposits after seismic data acquisition were completed by TGS NOPEC in 2005.

CAIRN India received the first oil exploration licence in 2009 following worldwide bidding. CAIRN Lanka, a subsidiary of the parent company drilled three exploratory wells in July 2011. Two of the oil wells had the hydro carbon deposits.

Wickramasuriya said that CAIRN Lanka has to conduct more drilling exercises to gauge the extent of the hydrocarbon deposits. Interest in the Mannar Basin has been growing steadily after gas deposits were discovered, he said. The Government is optimistic of striking oil and gas in the Northwest and the North oil exploration fields, he said.