Govt. looks for new investor for oil exploration as Cairn India officially exits

Cairn Lanka will exit from its oil exploration operations in the Mannar basin of Sri Lanka as an agreement between the Government and the company will officially end in October .

Cairn Lanka, a subsidiary of Cairn India Ltd. (CIL), one of the leading independent exploration and production companies globally, announced in April that a nearly 50% drop in crude oil prices has forced Cairn India to exit its operations in Sri Lanka.

On Wednesday, the Cabinet has given approval to a proposal submitted by the Minister of Power and Energy Patali Champika Ranawaka to select a suitable investor through international competitive bidding for commercially developing natural gas deposits in the Mannar basin.

In 2013, Cairn made gas discoveries in two of the four exploration wells it was awarded in the Mannar basin. It successfully discovered two successive gas and condensate deposits in the wells Dorado and Barracuda in the offshore Block SL 2007-01-001 in the Mannar Basin.

The Government will float bids to select an investor to commercially develop the natural gas deposits found in the two wells of block SL 2007-01-001 in Mannar Basin.

The Cabinet of Ministers has also approved setting up a Cabinet-appointed negotiation committee to assist in the bidding for a new investor.