Sri Lanka’s underappreciated geologic asset: developing its natural gas resource

COAST
GEOLOGICAL
SOCIETY MEETING (IN PERSON)

Sri Lanka's Beneficial Geologic Asset:
Natural Gas

Thomas L. Davis and Amila Sandaruwan Ratnayake

Tuesday, December 17, 2024 at 6:00 pm
Make your RSVP - ASAP and join us at Poinsettia Pavilion
3451 Foothill Rd, Ventura, CA 93003

Register for dinner and talk:
https://mail.google.com/mail/u/1/?ogbl#inbox/FMfcgzQXKWnJpZlbHKtJNXtntFvCKRJK

Sri Lanka’s severe economic crisis is in remission. Challenges still confront the government and the population, from debt to imported energy. Many economically developed and developing nations have unsustainable debt levels and energy insecurity (uncertainty in availability and affordability).

Sri Lanka has undeveloped natural gas fields and potential for additional discoveries in its offshore Mannar, Cauvery and Lanka Basins. Structural and depositional traps formed during the late Jurassic-early Cretaceous with the breakup of Gondwanaland. Sub-basins provided the oxygen-poor conditions for source rock pods. Crustal rotation and displacement formed additional structural traps, and continued subsidence and burial matured the pods.

Development of the gas fields, returning exploration, and moving away from coal- and oil-based energy is economically viable and desirable, assuming responsible development. Key benefits are debt reduction, secure, inexpensive, and reliable energy for decades, and reduced CO2 emissions in a manner that does not economically deprive its population.

Many will argue that Sri Lanka should not develop its fossil fuel resources because of climate change concerns. However, moving from oil and coal dominance to natural gas would reduce its emissions by about one-third. Nations with much larger CO2 emissions have placed their energy security above climate change concerns when their economy and social well-being are threatened. With investment, development, and exploration, Sri Lanka has the resources to avoid energy insecurity, while lowering its debt and CO2 emissions.

Thomas L. Davis, PhD, California Professional Geologist #4171,
Ventura, California, USA, email: tldavisgeo@gmail.com,
www.thomasldavisgeologist.com
Prof. Amila Sandaruwan Ratnayake, Ph.D. (Shimane University, Japan)
Professor in Geology, Department of Applied Earth Sciences,
Faculty of Applied Sciences, Uva Wellassa University, Sri Lanka
email: as_ratnayake@uwu.ac.lk, www.uwu.ac.lk

LInks to our 2024 published articles on Sri Lanka:

Aug. 12, 2024, Oil and Gas Journal, https://www.ogj.com/exploration-development/article/55131910/sr

July 27, 2024, The Diplomat, https://thediplomat.com/2024/07/sri-lankas-underappreciated-asset-offshore-lng/

July 22, 2024, GEOExPro, https://geoexpro.com/returning-exploration-to-sri-lanka/