Cairn India, a unit of British exploration firm Cairn Energy plc has said that it plans to drill for oil and natural gas deposits off Sri Lankas northwestern coast in July. In 2008, Cain invested USD 100 million, spread over three years, to conduct detailed seismic studies and drilling three wells off the coast of Mannar.
"Frontier exploration drilling in Sri Lanka is planned to commence in July," a company statement said. President Mahinda Rajapakssa had said that oil drilling would commence in the year 2011 as it had been identified that the areas in the northwestern coast had deposits for such resources.
Sri Lanka, which depends entirely on imports for all of its oil needs, offered three blocks to investors after surveys showed deposits along the Gulf of Mannar, close to neighbouring India. Block two, an area that covers around 3,400 square kilometres (1,300 square miles) off Mannar, was offered to Cairn in June 2008