Massive Oil Discovery Announced

(Colombo, Sri Lanka) President Chandrika Kumaratunga of Sri Lanka has announced the discovery of massive oil deposits along the country's southern and western coasts. Apparently, the oil field discovery was kept secret for some time, but now is being revealed ahead of plans to start drilling next month. Efforts are ongoing to determine if more deposits exist along the northern coast of the island. Estimates of potential reserves were not specified.

Obviously, this is dramatic news for Sri Lanka and South Asia with both India and China expected to be keenly interested. About the size of West Virginia, the country of slightly more than 20 million is currently an importer of oil. With a massive oil deposit harnessed, it's easy to predict a flood of petrodollars into the economy which currently has a GDP of approximately $80 billion.


[Update]

According to a report in the Khaleej Times, the news of a major oil discovery in Sri Lanka has been met with skepticism since there was an occasion in the past where a major discovery didn't produce results. This time, however, credence has been added to the claim since "Finance Minister Sarath Amunugama told the Joint Annual Discussions of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund last month in Washington DC that the findings of a seismic survey conducted recently in the Gulf of Mannar had revealed the presence of a world class petroleum system offshore."

We shall see.

Nevertheless, some Sri Lankans fear that oil will attract unwanted foreign attention from predatory nations. Oddly, Norway, Japan and the U.S. are believed somewhat excluded from the group of "predator big powers" because of their involvement in the Sri Lankan peace process.