RIL may enter Lankan oil industry

Reliance is considering a joint venture with Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, reports PK Balachandran.

Reliance Industries Ltd is exploring the possibility of entering the Sri Lankan oil sector in the field of exploration and refining.

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Atul Chandra, President of RIL International Business Operations, and Sailesh Mukherjee Vice President, were on a two-day "fact gathering exercise" in the island recently, to explore "all possible opportunities for investment."

But oil exploration and petroleum refining were of particular interest to them. A joint venture with the state-owned Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) is being considered.

Sri Lanka is interested in exploring oil offshore, and had formed a special department for it in 2005. But the government is still in the process of calling tenders for the allocation of exploration blocks.

According to Atul Chandra, Reliance's experience in deep water oil exploration gives it a strategic advantage over its international competitors in this region.