Gazprom Meets With Sri Lanka President, Offshore Contracts On Agenda

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Gazprom meeting.

Gazprom is in talks with Sri Lanka regarding the possibility of developing that nation's offshore contracts.

According to the Sri Lankan Government, there are indigenous energy resources in the Republic, with eight petroleum blocks having been identified in the Mannar Basin off the northwestern coast of Sri Lanka.

Gazprom's Chairman Alexey Miller met Monday with newly re-elected Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the company's headquarters. Subjects of talks pertained to future prospects of Russian-Sri Lankan cooperation in the petroleum sector, as well as Gazprom’s possible involvement in the development of hydrocarbons offshore Sri Lanka.

Monday's meeting follows on comments made last week by the Russian natural gas giant that consolidating the position on Asia-Pacific markets is among Gazprom’s paramount tasks.

Biomass fuel (48.02 per cent of total energy consumption) and oil import (44.38 per cent) underlie Sri Lanka’s energy sector. The hydropower plants located in the country’s central region generate electric power in a small amount (7.56 per cent) and a minimum amount (0.04 per cent) is produced from the alternative energy sources.

The country’s fuel and energy sector is regulated by the Sri Lankan Ministry of Power and Energy and the state-owned Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB).