LAUSR

The offshore investigations in Sri Lanka have identified three oceanic basins (i.e., the Mannar, Cauvery and Southern Basins) for possible oil and gas generation. These sedimentary basins recorded thick sedimentary successions from the Upper Jurassic to recent in age. The Cauvery and Mannar Basins contain a complex sequence of potential source rock beds from the Upper Jurassic to Neogene. An extensive kitchen source can be expected during the Upper Cretaceous. In addition, the basin modelling suggests that the Upper Cretaceous rock entered the maximum gas generation window around 20 Ma ago. The excellence reservoir potential can be expected by channel-levee complexes and slope fans in the Cretaceous and Tertiary sequences. The presence of combined stratigraphic and structural traps such as the Upper Cretaceous stratigraphic pinch-outs, horsts and tilted fault blocks and deepwater turbidites give positive force to the hydrocarbon exploration in Sri Lanka. [Received: October 3, 2015; Accepted: January 28, 2017]