Energy companies from countries including Qatar and India have already expressed interest in participating in the exploration and development of hydrocarbon resources—oil and natural gas—in four blocks of the Mannar Basin, an official said yesterday.
A Sri Lanka Petroleum Development Authority (PDA) official told the Daily Mirror that international bidding will be launched “very soon,” allowing a six-month period for prospective global energy companies and national oil companies to submit their proposals.
Exploration conducted in 2011 by India’s Cairn identified hydrocarbon deposits in two wells in the Mannar Basin, named Barracuda and Dorado.
Under the Petroleum Resources Act No. 21 of 2021, oil exploration and development in Sri Lanka must proceed only through an international tender process. Offshore Sri Lanka is divided into four sub-basins: Cauvery, Mannar, South Lanka, and East Lanka. Past discoveries confirm the presence of a petroleum system in the Mannar Basin.
The official noted that the international bidding process was initially planned for last month but was delayed to allow the Attorney General’s Department additional time to clear related documents.
The Mannar Basin, located between Sri Lanka and India, is a failed rift basin. Large volumes of volcanic rocks formed during volcanic activity in the Late Cretaceous to Early Paleocene period, accompanied by numerous igneous intrusions. The 2011 hydrocarbon discoveries at Barracuda and Dorado are linked to this volcanic activity.
A major challenge in exploring for oil and gas in volcanic regions is imaging the rocks beneath basalt layers, as basalt transmits seismic waves differently from sedimentary rocks. However, reprocessing existing seismic data using modern techniques has improved the visibility of sediments and geological structures beneath the basalt, according to a research paper published by the Petroleum Development Authority.
