Vietnam interested in oil exploration in Sri Lanka’s Mannar Basin

The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, trading as PetroVietnam has expressed interest in exploring oil in the Mannar Basin off the northwest coast of Sri Lanka.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Colombo, Tong Sin Thanh has said that the company which is wholly owned by the Vietnamese central government and has operations in 18 countries is prepared to join in oil exploration in Sri Lanka.

The Ambassador has also said that his country is ready to enhance bilateral relations not only in the oil and gas sector but also in the aviation and tourism fields.

Petrovietnam has been successful in oil and gas exploration and production overseas. At present, the company is investing in 23 oil and gas exploration and production projects all over the world.

Meanwhile, the Russian oil giant Gazprom has also shown interest in investing in the oil exploration in the Mannar Basin. Gazprom is to send a team of experts to Sri Lanka soon to further explore the possibility.

Mannar basin has eight oil and gas exploration blocks and two of them have been granted to China and India.

Sri Lanka has already allowed Cairn Lanka, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Indian oil giant Cairn India to commence drilling for oil in the Mannar Basin in August 2011.

Source http://www.colombopage.com

Tags: oil exploration