Oil Skills

Mar 04, 2008 (LBO) – Sri Lanka's petroleum exploration unit has started to build up its staff as the island waits for offshore exploration work to get underway, a senior official said. . The petroleum resources development secretariat (PRDS), set up under the petroleum ministry to search for oil, has begun to look for oil industry professionals as bids for offshore exploration by foreign firms are being evaluated.

"We’re going to take bright, young graduates from Sri Lanka and train them," said Neil de Silva, director general of petroleum resources development.

Training Ground

Some of the island's universities already have programmes to produce graduates with basic qualifications in geology and geophysics, some of the required skills in the burgeoning oil and gas industry.

"We can take them from local universities and recast them," de Silva explained in an interview, recalling how he himself graduated from the Peradeniya University, in the central hill region, and then went abroad for more advanced training.

De Silva said the PRDS has an approved cadre of 60 people who would be hired according to the pace of exploration work.

Sri Lanka is buildin