Sri Lanka, Gazprom discuss oil exploration

Reuters
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Sri Lanka and the international arm of Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom have discussed oil exploration off the island's north-western coast and purchase of liquid natural gas, the country's External Affairs Ministry said on Tuesday.

The discussion were held as Cairn India , majority held by Cairn Energy , is preparing to drill for oil in one of the eight blocks in Sri Lanka's north-western Mannar basin this month.

Sri Lanka's External Affairs Minister G.L. Peiris held talks in Colombo with a Gazprom International delegation, led by managing director Valery Gulev.

"Peiris discussed ... issues connected with Russian cooperation in such fields as oil exploration in the Mannar basin and the Cauvery basin, the procurement of liquid natural gas and technical expertise in respect of refineries," the ministry said in a statement.

"The visiting delegation said that Gazprom would be happy to bear the expenses of training a team of Sri Lankans in one of Russia's leading institutions in the field of oil and gas technology."

The ministry did not elaborate on any other details of oil exploration.

Sri Lanka's government has said seismic data shows the potential for more than 1 billion barrels of oil under the sea in a 30,000 sq km area of the Mannar Basin, located further south along the western coast.

American and Russian companies from the mid-1960s to 1984 undertook exploration in the north-western Cauvery basin, but no commercial oil was produced and Sri Lanka's civil war ended the work.

With the end of the 25-year war in May 2009, revival plans for the $50 billion economy have focused on oil and gas exploration.

© Reuters