First airborne survey for oil exploration begins in the Mannar and Cauvery basins

COLOMBO (News 1st); Sri Lankan plans to adopt the long-awaited Petroleum Development Authority Act (PDA) that contains legal provisions regarding petroleum and natural gas exploration in October 2021. The announcement comes as Sri Lanka carried out its first-ever airborne oil exploration survey or the first airborne Full Tensor Gradiometry (FTG), Gravity and Magnetics survey, targeting petroleum resources off shallow water areas in the Mannar and Cauvery basins of Sri Lanka. [caption id="attachment_599066" align="aligncenter" width="768"] ????????????????????????????????????[/caption] This survey is conducted by the UK-based Bell Geospace, a world-renowned geophysical survey company that was chosen following an international competitive tender process by the Government. Sri Lanka's Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat hired Bell Geospace to provide 3D Full Tensor Gradiometry, gravity, and magnetic survey data on a Multi-Client basis for the region. Phase one of the survey is taking place over the shallow waters of the Mannar and Cauvery basins over blocks M1, C1, and C2. Sri Lanka’s oil-rich areas were divided into 20 plots which later were divided into 873 smaller plots, considering the cost for a simple contractor to survey one single block was very high. Petroleum investors coming to Sri Lanka need the scientific data and information of those plots to decide which piece to choose for their exploration. Analysing Air-FTG® and magnetic data will enhance geological mapping which in turn will change current geological ideas. Minister of Energy, Udaya Gammanpila said that the $ 267 billion worth of oil and gas resources hidden in the Mannar Basin could generate three times the total debt of the country. " The Government of Sri Lanka owns the rights to the data and information they find, so it will share the profits from the sale of this company with future investors with the Government of Sri Lanka." The Minister elaborated.