MOSCOW - Gazprom conducted pre-investment research of oil and gas prospects in Malta and Sri Lanka last year, the company's annual report says.
Sri Lankan Oil Industry Minister Susil Premajayantha had earlier expressed hop that Gazprom, as well as ExxonMobil and Chevron, would take part in tenders for the development of oil and gas sections on the Indian Ocean shelf.
Tenders for seven oil and gas sections could be announced sometime in the next two or three months. The sections can be developed on production-sharing terms. During the geological survey period, those involved in the projects would be freed from a number of taxes.
Sri Lanka defines as most promising ten oil and gas sections on its northwestern shelf in the Mannar basin covering 30,000 square meters, the resources of which are estimated at roughly 1 billion barrels. Another five blocks are defined on the northern shelf in the Cauvery basin.
Drilling on the Sri Lankan shelf is being done at only one section in the Mannar basin by India’s Cairn Energy Plc.
