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Gas-find a damp squib?

22 Nov 2011 - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Despite the government claiming that natural gas had been discovered while drilling for oil in two blocks in the Mannar Basin, the gas deposits found deep under the sea in one well has been proved to be inadequate in terms of volumes and thus non-economical, the Daily Mirror learns.

Cairn International, whose Indian subsidiary which was reported to have found the gas deposits, has reportedly communicated this to the government recently.

The government had offered three blocks to the company for oil exploration in the sea off Mannar.

It was claimed that in one well, deposits of hydrocarbon was found at a depth of some 4,000 metres, but according to available data it is learnt that only 15 per cent was usable and as such it had been found non-economical to carry out further testing on this well.
The Daily Mirror learns that the situation is even worse in the first well, and Cairn International is now banking its fortunes on the third well.

In the run-up to the October 8 local council elections, the government announced that gas had been found in the Mannar Basin.

Meanwhile the government has invited Russia’s largest gas company Gazprom to participate in offshore oil exploration in Sri Lanka.

Opposition MPs raised this matter in parliament yesterday and during the debate, United National Party (UNP) front-liner Ravi Karunanayake asked why the government did not mention anything about the development of the petroleum industry if gas had been found in Mannar.(Kelum Bandara)

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Gas-find a damp squib?

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