IMI Sri Lanka Oil Exploration Opportunities

UNCLAS COLOMBO 001488 SIPDIS USDOC 6110 TD/BI/OFFICE OF ENERGY, INFRASTRUCTURE, AND MACHINERY E.O 12958: N/A TAGS: EPET BEXP CE ECONOMICS SUBJECT: IMI Sri Lanka Oil Exploration Opportunities ¶1. Summary: The Government of Sri Lanka is planning to open offshore areas off the western coast of Sri Lanka for oil exploration in the first quarter of 2005. Private companies will be awarded exploration licenses for 8-9 plots through a competitive bidding process. End Summary. ¶2. Exploration drilling in the shallow waters north of Sri Lanka, performed in the early '80s, showed potential for hydrocarbons. More recently, in 2001, the Australian subsidiary of a Norwegian firm, TGS Nopec, carried out a preliminary seismic survey in the same area, which also showed good potential. The company will undertake a comprehensive seismic survey on a non- exclusive basis in December 2004. Data from these studies will be made available to interested oil companies for a fee. ¶3. To facilitate oil exploration, the Government has recently enacted a Petroleum Resources Act. The Government is expected to finalize petroleum operation regulations under the new Act soon. Model production sharing contracts are already available for public scrutiny from the Ministry of Power and Energy. ¶4. The government is planning to open offshore areas off the western coast of Sri Lanka for oil exploration. Private companies will be awarded exploration licenses for 8-9 plots through a competitive bidding process. The Government plans to announce a licensing round in the first quarter of 2005. It has already held road shows in Texas and London to promote oil exploration. These opportunities will be promoted again at the International Exposition and Seventy Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society for Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) http://meeting.seg.org/ in Denver, Colorado in October 2004. ¶5. US companies can contact the following GSL agency for information regarding oil exploration opportunities: Ministry of Power and Energy 80 Flower Road Colombo 7 Sri Lanka. Phone: 94-11- 2564-476 Fax: 94-11-2564-354 Email: energy@sri.lanka.net Contact person: Mr. Titus Jayawardena Director General, Petroleum Resources. ENTWISTLE