French Total inks oil exploration deal with Sri Lanka

Feb 18, 2016 (LBO) – Total, a French oil and gas company, has signed a deal with Sri Lanka to explore for oil in the island's east coast, a Petroleum Resources Development Ministry statement said.









“The aim of the study is to explore marginal areas with limited data for hydrocarbon prospectivity,” the Ministry statement said. “The main benefit to Sri Lanka will be the acquisition of seismic and other data in areas that currently have none allowing the government to assess future production potential at no cost.









” Total will conduct a geological, geophysical and technical surveys, analysing and interpreting the acquired data, and ultimately assess the presence of commercially viable oil and gas. Sri Lanka will get a ground rental of one US dollar per square kilometre for the entire acreage of the study valued at about seven million rupees a year, the statement added.