Sri Lankan government to open up more blocks in Mannar Basin for exploration opportunities in 2020
Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS) is reportedly looking at opening up more blocks of the Mannar Basin for exploration opportunities next year.
A senior official at the Secretariat has been quoted as saying that more blocks are likely to be opened up due to the development set to begin on the M2 block within the next few months.
PRDS Director General Vajira Dassanayake has been quoted as saying that the Secretariat has received three bids for the M2 block in the Mannar Basin and is hoping to start development and production work as soon as possible.
While the closing date for the bids was June 7th this year, the evaluation process has been completed and the report has been sent to Sri Lanka’s Petroleum Resources Development Ministry, which has to table it with the Cabinet-Appointed Negotiation Committee (CANC).
“The Secretaries got shifted around and we need the Treasury to reappoint them. Once the committee is formed, we can table it for them and thereafter it can go to Cabinet for final approval,” Dassanayake has told the local media, adding that it would be awarded only after Cabinet approval.
The PRDS, which comes under the purview of the Petroleum Resources Development Ministry, has reportedly entered into a joint study agreement with French oil and gas multinational Total with the inclusion of Norwegian oil and gas company Equinor on August 27th.
According to reports, the joint study agreement aims to explore the hydrocarbon potential in the JS-5 and JS-6 blocks of the Lanka Basin. Dassanayake has further noted that the data was acquired in 2018 and data processing was completed by April this year.
The interpretation work under the agreement was carried out between May and August and, currently, the PRDS is designing a survey to correspond with the previous one.
Reports further state that evaluation is also ongoing for the bid received for the M1 and C1 offshore exploration blocks for which international competitive bids were called for in May.
“We are planning a seabed quarrying operation in those areas as well in 2020,” Dassanayake has added.
OSL take:
The government of Sri Lanka is looking at developing the country’s power and energy sector. Oil exploration in the seas off the island is a large scale business/investment opportunity in the making. Foreign businesses/investors engaged in the petroleum business could explore business opportunities in Sri Lanka’s oil exploration. Given Sri Lanka’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean, petroleum would be a thriving sector.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/23122019/Z_1 |