The Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat (PRDS) said that they would be able to extract natural gas and fossil fuels from the Mannar basin by 2023.
Participating in a Media briefing held yesterday (22) in Colombo, with Minister of Petroleum Resources Development Arjuna Ranatunga, Representatives of the PRDS announced that the BGP Pioneer exploration ship had started its research mission yesterday in the Mannar basin where oil resources are highly available.
“Using the BGP Pioneer ship, we did researches and collected seismic data in the Lanka Patuna basin, and since yesterday we commenced researches at the Mannar basin. In Mannar, there is a proven oil rich area, named as Dorado. As a result of previous lengthy researches since the 1970s and 1980s, the area was recorded as an area rich in oil. Now, we are doing comprehensive research there and if everything takes place properly we can obtain oil by 2023,” Representatives of the PRDS said.
They added that the natural gas resources of the Mannar Dorado area would be sufficient to generate 300 Megawatt from a power plant for 20 years continuously.
“The Dorado area is only one place. There are many places in the Mannar basin and other areas where we can extract the hydrocarbons from as fuel,” they said.
They added that the funds for oil resources come from foreign research organizations, oil companies and other interested parties. The Government is not spending for this, they pointed out.
Courtesy: Ceylon Today
