Friday Sep 25, 2026
Friday Sep 25, 2026
Thursday, 24 September 2026 00:06 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka
Energy Minister Anura Karunathilaka yesterday gave Parliament a detailed timeline for Sri Lanka’s ongoing oil and gas exploration licensing round, setting out the schedule and commercial terms under which the country hopes to secure binding investment in its offshore acreage by the end of 2027.
Speaking during a parliamentary debate, Energy Minister Karunathilaka said bids called in August would remain open for six months, with the Government hoping to close bidding by February or March 2027. Bids would then be evaluated through the remainder of 2027, with negotiations opening with successful bidders and licensing agreements finalised from October 2027, with the process expected to conclude by the end of that year.
Under the terms disclosed by the Minister, companies bidding for exploration and production rights through the Petroleum Development Authority of Sri Lanka (PDASL) would be expected to pay a signature bonus of around $ 5,000, described as the norm for the round, while also submitting production, royalty and profit-sharing terms as part of their bid for evaluation. Investors are also required to submit development plans covering the full cycle from exploration through to production.
Successful bidders will be granted six months to mobilise and three years to explore, an exploration period that can be extended up to eight years. Production must commence within that eight-year window, after which successful bidders will hold the asset for 20 years.
The disclosure follows the formal launch of the Sri Lanka Licensing Round 2026 (SL2026-01), under an order issued by the Energy Minister under Section 48 of the Petroleum Resources Act, No. 21 of 2021, read with Section 17 of the Act, and published in Extraordinary Gazette No. 2497/37 of 16 July 2026. The round offers four offshore exploration blocks spanning nearly 34,000 sq. km in the Mannar Basin, marking Sri Lanka’s first international licensing round for offshore petroleum exploration in more than a decade.
PDASL Director General Dr. Neil De Silva has said commercial production is being targeted by 2032, contingent on seismic surveys and drilling establishing commercially recoverable resources. Sri Lanka already has two gas discoveries in the Mannar Basin, Dorado and Barracuda, both made in 2011, with combined P50 resource estimates of 839 billion cubic feet (314 bcf and 525 bcf respectively). Dr. De Silva has said the upside potential at Barracuda alone could be at least four times its current estimate.
The bidding process is being supported by an international investor campaign led by UK-based Frontier Energy Network, appointed as specialist international marketing partner for the round through its PetroInvest platform. The campaign includes investor engagement at the World Energies Summit in London on 29 and 30 September, a virtual investor briefing on 21 October, and further engagement at the Asia Petroleum Geoscience Conference and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur on 16 and 17 November.
