SL to auction another Mannar oil block

15 March 2012 04:02 am

The Sri Lankan government may go ahead with another international round of licensing for another block in the Mannar Basin within approximately the next three months, according to Director General of the Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS), Saliya Wickramasuriya.

“The round will take place within the next three months plus or minus for one of the blocks in the Mannar Basin. I think that this time around there is a bigger appetite for it. But we will probably want to hold on to the blocks that are in deeper waters so these tenders will be for blocks that are closer to shore in shallower waters,” Wickramasuriya said.

In total, 15 blocks surround Sri Lanka, 10 of which are in the Mannar Basin with a remaining five in the Cauvery Basin, with Cairn India having drilled three wells in the Mannar Basin already, two of which have since been reported to carry natural gas and liquid hydro-carbon potential.

Wickramasuriya further stated that interest has been shown from the Indian government to participate in further exploration. (CF)