Shooting blanks

by admin
Mar 1, 2013

Cairn Lanka has abandoned an oil exploration well in the Mannar basin, after no traces of oil or gas were found.

“The well was plugged and abandoned and the rig is being demobilised. The Petroleum Resourced Development Secretariat (PRDS) is being notified,” said Cairn India, which owns Cairn Lanka

In an interview to the Daily Mirror, Cairn India and Cairn Lanka Director Sunil Bharati said that there were several paths Cairn Lanka could take in going forward.

Graphic courtesy of DailyMirror.lk

“Depending on the results of the second phase, there could be two or three different paths available to us, as envisaged in the Petroleum Resources Agreement. Either we can choose to proceed to the third phase, which will again require drilling a commitment well and have a time period of one to two years, or not to enter the third phase but enter into an appraisal phase followed by a development phase.”

“If we opt to enter the development stage, we will have to do a detailed appraisal to establish the volume of oil or gas available in the block, which will take one to two years. Only then will we know whether the block is commercially viable,” he said.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka is preparing to auction more blocks in the Mannar and Cauvery basin.

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