Last Updated :
06 June 2008 at 16:10 IST
Cairn India to explore oil, gas in Sri Lanka
Commodity Online
COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Friday said, Cairn India, a unit of British exploration firm Cairn Energy Plc, has secured rights to explore oil and natural gas deposits off its coast.
Announcing this Sri Lanka’s petroleum minister A H M Fowzie said, the proposed area, known as block one, covers around 3,400 square kilometres off Sri Lanka's northwest coast.
Sri Lanka, which imports all its oil needs, offered three blocks to investors after seismic surveys showed oil deposits along the Gulf of Mannar close to neighbouring India.
However, in April the island withdrew two blocks after receiving fewer offers than expected. Besides Cairn, India's state-run ONGC Videsh and Canada's Niko Resources bid to explore block one.
Sri Lanka has already allocated two other blocks to the governments of India and China. The island spent just under three billion dollars in 2007 importing oil.
Over 35 years ago, overseas companies explored areas off Sri Lanka's northwest coast, but failed to find any oil and gas reserves worth exploiting commercially.
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