India ready to join Sri Lanka's oil exploration efforts, says Gammanpila

COLOMBO (News 1st); Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila on Wednesday (9) said that India has expressed its desire to join in Sri Lanka's oil and gas exploration efforts.

He told Parliament on Wednesday (9) that he would visit the United States in America to attend one of the largest energy summits in the world and he would invite private investors at the summit to join oil and gas exploration efforts, as well.

In 2021, Energy Minister Udaya Gammampila in a gazette notification published a map of blocks for joint exploration for oil and gas in the Mannar Basin.

Titled ‘Hydrocarbon exploration block map of Sri Lanka,’ the map outlines the blocks for exploration licenses, development licenses, and joint studies.

The publication covers all areas identified to contain oil and gas deposits in Sri Lankan waters by the Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat, for exploration.

The map contains 873 blocks of 15x15 km each in the Mannar Basin and will enable investors to select preferred plots for exploration without difficulty.

The Energy Ministry has endeavored to make the map and exploration process engaging investors in the Mannar, Kaveri, and Lanka basins.

The project has the potential to deliver over two billion barrels of oil and nine trillion cubic feet of natural gas, it is estimated, said the Energy Minister.