Sri Lankan govt to call for bids to develop M2 Block in Mannar Basin by January
The government of Sri Lanka is to move ahead with its oil and natural gas exploration programme by calling fresh bids to develop oil and natural gas discoveries in the M2 Block of the Mannar Basin. The move is expected to attract top international companies.
“We are expecting to offer an international licensing round for the appraisal and development of natural gas discoveries in M2 by January next year,” Sri Lanka’s Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila told a media briefing recently.
According to local media reports, Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS) has identified several blocks for offshore oil exploration in the Mannar Basin, the Cauvery Basin, and the Lanka Basin.
The Minister has stated that several well-known companies have already expressed interest in the mapped blocks.
“The two test wells, Dorado and Barracuda have produced natural gas,” Gammanpila has noted, adding “Our aim is to find gas within the next three years.”
The country’s Energy Ministry recently published a gazette notification containing a map of blocks for joint exploration for oil and gas in the Mannar Basin. The map contains 873 blocks of 15×15 km each and will enable investors to select preferred plots for exploration without difficulty.
The newly-published map and process is aimed at attracting the top 20 international oil and gas companies to invest in the sector while the project reportedly has the potential to deliver over two billion barrels of oil and nine trillion cubic feet of natural gas, it is estimated.
The government of Sri Lanka is in the process of implementing the Petroleum Resources Bill that was recently passed in parliament to facilitate the establishment of a Petroleum Development Authority and the formulation of a national policy on the upstream petroleum industry.
OSL take:
Sri Lanka’s oil and gas exploration programme is one of the newest and largest business/investment opportunities. The country’s exploration programme has been added to the list of Sri Lanka’s development programme. Sri Lanka is working towards becoming a business hub in the South Asian region and the country’s geographical positioning in the Indian Ocean and the many trade agreements as well as concessions have further supported the cause. Given that the country’s economy is on a growth path with all economic sectors showing an expansion, foreign businesses/investors could explore opportunities in Sri Lanka’s oil and gas exploration programme.
| Article Code : | VBS/AT/20211015/Z_2 |