The Ministry of Highways and Road Development and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources Development, have developed a draft national policy to develop the natural gas industry in Sri Lanka.
The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka with the Ministry of Highways and Road Development and Petroleum Resources Development Secretariat, have decided to call for public and expert comments on the draft national policy on Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) to further improve and develop the policy.
Exploratory evidence on natural gas deposits in the Mannar Basin and the pursuit of relatively clean alternative fuels for enhancing the diversity of the power generation energy mix, have heightened the interest in natural gas in the country.
The first natural gas discovery in Sri Lanka was made in the Mannar Basin, off the North Western coast in 2011. So far, exploratory drilling has made two discoveries from the same block with estimated reservoir capacities of over one Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) of natural gas and 10 million BBL (barrels) of condensate.
According to the draft policy despite positive prospects, Sri Lanka has no experience in natural gas in any economic sector so far, and there is substantial evidence to indicate that Sri Lanka can reap significant economic, social, and environmental benefits by using natural gas as a source of energy in power, industrial, transportation, household and commercial sectors, and as a raw material for industrial purposes.
The national policy on natural gas will facilitate the exploration and production of natural gas, importation and exportation of Liquefied Natural Gas and the utilisation of natural gas as an energy source and raw material, and also set up the legal, regulatory and institutional framework for the natural gas industry in Sri Lanka.
The draft policy is available on www.pucsl.gov.lk and the written comments can be submitted via post (Chairman, Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka, Level 6, BoC Merchant Tower, No. 28, St. Michael’s Road, Colombo 3), via fax (0112392641) or via email ([email protected]).
Oral submission or discussions will be held on March 28 at the cinema lounge of the BMICH and interested parties can participate by registering via 0718622800.