Cairn Finds Gas Offshore Sri Lanka

Cairn India, a subsidiary of Cairn Energy, has announced that it has discovered natural gas in Sri Lanka's offshore Mannar Basin, confirming an earlier announcement by Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Cairn Lanka, a fully owned unit of Cairn India, struck natural gas reserves in the very first well it drilled in the offshore Mannar basin of Sri Lanka.

'Cairn Lanka, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn India, has notified the appropriate authorities in the government of Sri Lanka of a gas discovery in the CLPL-Dorado-91H/1z well, drilled in a water depth of 1,354 metres, located in the block SL 2007-01-001, Mannar Basin, Sri Lanka,' the company said in a press release in New Delhi. 'A gross 25 metres hydrocarbon column' was tested, it said. 'Further drilling will be required to establish the commerciality of the discovery,' it added.

CLPL-Dorado-91H/1z well is the first well to be drilled in Sri Lanka in 30 years and the first well to discover hydrocarbons in the country. Block SL 2007-01-001 was awarded to Cairn in a 2008 Sri Lanka bid round. Cairn Lanka is a wholly owned subsidiary of Cairn India and holds a 100 per cent participating interest in the Mannar block.

Cairn Lanka acquired 1,750 sq kms of 3D seismic data in the Mannar Basin of Sri Lanka between December, 2009, and January, 2010. Based on interpretation of the 3D seismic data, several prospects and leads have been identified. Cairn will drill three wells in the block using drillship 'Chikyu'. The drilling campaign will cost USD 110 million.