Daily Lankadeepa E-Paper

Gammanpila the latest to build castles in the air with that elusive ‘black gold’

It has almost become a tradition now for various ministers in the government to make outlandish claims regarding apparent untapped natural resources in the country at a time that the economy is on a nosedive.

Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila was the latest to jump on the bandwagon this week when he told the Ministerial Consultative Committee on Energy that Sri Lanka was sitting on USD 267 billion worth of oil and gas resources hidden in the Mannar Basin.

He claimed that these vast untapped reserves could generate three times the country’s total debt amounting to USD 47 billion. He noted that this is even after investors who invest in these oil and gas drills are given a 50% stake. That still leaves USD 133.5 billion that is government owned, he told those present.

The Minister made the claims while briefing the Committee, including fellow MPs on the Petroleum Resources Bill that is to be tabled in Parliament for the second reading.

Mr Gammanpila did not stop there. He claimed the gas reserves in the Mannar Basin were enough to ensure that the Norochcholai power plant could operate for 120 years while the Sapugaskanda oil refinery could operate for 143 years with the oil alone.

The country would succeed in one when drilling seven wells in search for oil and gas according to world standards, he stressed. The Norwegian government had to dig 31 wells for one success story whilst three out of four wells drilled in

Sri Lanka were successful, he added.

Only time will tell whether any of Mr Gammanpila’s predictions will bear fruit. That is of course if these supposed oil and gas deposits are indeed in the Mannar Basin.

Successive governments have been on the look out for this elusive 'black gold' since the 1970s when the Russians began to explore the area near Pesalai in the Gulf of Mannar. In fact, the then government made an announcement that there was indeed oil, but this exploration went no further with cynics saying they had just spilled some oil barrels on the sea bed.

NEWS

en-lk

2021-09-12T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-09-12T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://dailylankadeepa.pressreader.com/article/281672553065636

Wijeya Newspapers