The Petroleum Resources Bill has been passed in Parliament with amendments today (October 06).

The second reading of the bill was taken up for debate from 11.00 a.m. to 4.30 p.m. during today’s parliamentary sitting.

This bill provides for the establishment of the Petroleum Development Authority of Sri Lanka and the formulation of a National Policy for the upstream petroleum industry covering the exploration, development, production, and management of all petroleum resources in Sri Lanka.

The bill provides the legal framework to regulate all processes of the exploration, development, production and management of all petroleum resources in Sri Lanka including the provision of operational guidelines.

In addition, it will establish an independent, efficient, and transparent regulatory framework in relation to the exploration, development, production and management of petroleum resources in the country.

Another objective of the bill is to design, implement, monitor and revise fiscal regimes that meet evolving economic needs of the country while providing fiscal stability to contractors.

Further, it is expected to repeal the Petroleum Resources Act, No. 26 of 2003.

The Petroleum Development Authority, among other things, will be tasked with preparing a map dividing the onshore and offshore areas into graticular sections to demarcate and designate exploration blocks and development blocks and to define and demarcate areas to be designated for joint studies.

The administration, management and control of the affairs of the Authority shall be vested in a Board of Directors.