Unaware of volume, extent of Mannar Basin deposits: Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan government is still unaware of the extent and volume of the gas deposits in the Mannar basin, country’s minister of petroleum industries Susil Premajayantha said.

Cairn India, a subsidiary of Cairn Energy, had announced last month that it discovered natural gas in Sri Lanka's offshore Mannar Basin. 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.

Minister said that Cairn had not informed the government of the extent or the volume of the two natural gas deposits.

He noted that officials from Russia's Gazprom are currently in Sri Lanka and would assess the data available of the natural gas deposits in the Mannar Basin.

After the initial assessment is concluded by Gazprom, another Russian company would arrive in the country for exploration work.