Sri Lanka will sign an agreement with French oil and gas giant Total for a seismic study evaluating prospective oil resources of the east coast, reports Reuters.
Speaking to Reuters, the director general at Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS) Vajira Dassanayake said,
“We are hoping to sign a new agreement with Total later this month. It’s a marine survey. There will be more resources allocated this time compared to the previous agreement. They will have the marketing exclusivity for a certain period until they recover their cost. Actual ownership of the data will be with the government of Sri Lanka. They have one year to negotiate with us and give us a favourable contract for production and sharing.”
Mr Dassanayake said Total will invest a total of $13 million for the seismic study.
Sri Lanka earlier singed a $25 million deal with Total to survey 50,000km off the east coast from the air.
Sri Lanka currently produces no oil, and spent $3.2 billion on oil imports last year. It also saw crippling fuel shortages and relied on emergency deliveries from India and friendly nations near the end of 2017.
