RIL seeks nod for selling oil products in Lanka

Reliance Industries, India's largest private sector firm, is keen to sell oil products in Sri Lanka, the island nation's oil minister said today.

"Reliance has approached our (foreign) investment board on marketing its products in Sri Lanka," Sri Lankan Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Minister A H M Fowzie told reporters on the sidelines of the Petrotech conference here.

Presently, Lanka IOC, a subsidiary of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), retails petrol and diesel in the island nation.

RIL is looking at export markets in Asia, Middle-East, Europe and Latin America to sell products from its 29 million tonne export-oriented refinery being built at Jamnagar.

Updated at 1500 hrs: Sri Lanka today offered an oil exploration block to Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) in Mannar near Kaveri basin.

Sri Lanka has eight exploration blocks in its kitty out of which it has offered one each to India and China, and is planning to allocate the remaining blocks in three months.

"Out of eight blocks, we have offered one to India and one to China. Both the blocks are in Mannar (in the northwest coast), closer to Kaveri basin. The balance will be offered in three months," Fowzie said.

Norway-based TGS Nopek was dealing with the blocks, but Sri Lanka bought the 2D data from the company for $10.5 million, and has given it to Australian company Spectrum for interpretation. Colombo has sold two of the available data to ONGC and British Gas.

"Earlier, TGS Nopek was asked to do all things. There was a change in our policy, and we bought the data for $10.5 million and gave it to Australia's Spectrum. We are at an infant stage and need to put up infrastructure and human resources. Two data have already been sold to ONGC and British Gas," Fowzie said.