An operation to identify natural gas and fuel deposits in the deep seas off the North Eastern part of Sri Lanka was launched yesterday by the expeditionary ship ”BGP Pioneer,” Petroleum Resources Development Minister Arjuna Ranatunga said.
‘This operation is launched by the world renowned Schulumberger, a Company wholly owned by the Eastern Echo DMCC,” Minister Ranatunga said.
He was addressing the gathering at an official ceremony held at the Colombo Port Eastern Terminal to mark the lunching of the prospecting operation yesterday.
Minister Ranatunga said the ship will sail into the deep sea and engage in prospecting for data for 45 days. It would cover a total area 10,000 square Kilometres. The data collected by BGP Pioneer would by analysed by Eastern Echo DMCC at its research laboratories in Malaysia after which they be re-analysed by geologist in the Petroleum Ministry Secretariat and Total institute before formulating the final report.
“They were confident of receiving positive indications from this report about the availability of natural gas and fuel deposits in our maritime area,” he said.
Minister Ranatunga said Sri Lanka is a country blessed by nature. There has been reports of the availability of national gas and fuel resources and their present endeavour was to identify the particular deposits and collect correct data about it. Projects of this nature undertaken earlier stalled half way for various reasons.