Cairn India urges Lanka to maximise benefits from natural gas discoveries in Mannar Basin
Tuesday, 29 April 2014 00:00
-
- {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Cairn India says they are continuing discussions with the Sri Lankan Government regarding commercial terms necessary to monetise the discovered gas resources on the block in the Mannar Basin.
The company in its annual financial report for the period ended 31 March, 2014 said that they, in 2013, concluded appraisal and commercial studies to determine the next steps for the gas discoveries made on the block SL 2007-01-001. Cairn India urged the Sri Lankan policy makers to take a holistic view to maximise benefits from the maiden natural gas discoveries in the Mannar Basin.
The company said in November 2013 it also participated in Sri Lanka’s offshore bidding round for M-5 block, south of their current block in the Mannar Basin which is located in the Gulf of Mannar, situated on the north east shallow continental shelf of Sri Lanka.
Cairn India has a world-class resource base, with interest in seven blocks in India, one in Sri Lanka and one in South Africa.
Cairn made gas discoveries in two of the four exploration wells it was awarded. It successfully discovered two successive gas and condensate deposits in the wells Dorado and Barracuda in the offshore Block SL 2007-01-001 in the Mannar Basin. The company expects production from the Sri Lanka’s offshore gas fields starting as early as 2016.
The Dorado discovery is up for development with first gas officially expected in 2017-18 while Barracuda is being further assessed, according to Cairn. The Company estimates reserves of 74 million barrels of oil equivalent at the two sites.
