Offshore Asia-Pacific roundup: Sri Lanka licensing round, Malaysia-Thailand gas deal, seismic survey
Why this news matters:
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Sri Lanka's licensing round could attract new international investment into a largely underexplored offshore basin.
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New gas development and seismic imaging projects highlight continued efforts to strengthen Asia-Pacific energy supplies and identify future resources.
Offshore exploration and gas development activity continues to gain momentum across Asia-Pacific.
In recent weeks, Sri Lanka launched a new offshore licensing round in the underexplored Mannar Basin; PTTEP and PETRONAS secured a long-term agreement to expand gas production in the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area; and Viridien began processing a pioneering hybrid seismic survey designed to improve imaging of prospective formations beneath the Malacca Strait.
Together, the developments highlight ongoing efforts to strengthen regional energy supplies while opening new opportunities for future exploration.
Sri Lanka opens latest offshore licensing round
The Petroleum Development Authority of Sri Lanka (PDASL) has launched the Sri Lanka Licensing Round 2026 (SL2026-01).
Four offshore exploration blocks are available to international energy companies in the Mannar Basin.
This is the nation’s most established offshore petroleum basin, with prior exploration said to have demonstrated a working petroleum system, with several gas and condensate discoveries.
However, large areas of the basin remain little explored.
In support of the Licensing Round, PDASL (on behalf of the government) is making available geological and geophysical information to enable interested parties to conduct detailed evaluation of the offered acreage.
The Petroleum Resources Act, No. 21 of 2021 established the PDASL as the country’s upstream petroleum regulator, with a strengthened institutional framework for the exploration and development of Sri Lanka’s petroleum resources.
A technical data room and bid documentation for the for blocks is now open to qualified prospective participants, with information concerning licensing and participation requirements; direct engagement with the PDASL; investor briefings and international roadshow activity.
The first roadshow will open at the World Energies Summit in London on Sept. 29-30, with the PDASL presenting the SL2026-01 opportunity. A Virtual Investor Briefing will follow on Oct. 21, with the Investor Roadshow then heading to the Asia Petroleum Geoscience Conference & Exhibition 2026 in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 16-17.
PTTEP, PETRONAS expand long-term gas partnership
Subsidiaries of PTTEP and PETRONAS Carigali subsidiary have signed a production sharing contract (PSC) with the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Authority (MTJA) for Block A-18-01.
The two parent companies will each hold a 50% interest in the 3,494-sq-km concession in the offshore Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area.
In addition, all three parties have signed a gas sales agreement (GSA) for the Block A-18-01 with buyers PTT Public Co. Ltd. and Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS).
Both the PSC and the GSA have a 35-year term, effective from Jan. 1, 2026.
The PSC covers both the original area of Block A-18 and a further offshore area. The block has a gas production capacity of about 300 MMscf/d to 400 MMscf/d, supplied equally to Thailand and Malaysia.
The volumes sent supplied to Thailand are used for power generation in the south of the country.
Viridien advances hybrid seismic survey offshore Malaysia
Viridien has started imaging of the Langkasuka 3D hybrid survey offshore western Peninsular Malaysia.
The company said this will be the first combined streamer and sparse ocean-bottom node multi-client 3D seismic dataset acquired anywhere in the Asia-Pacific region, and the first in this part of the world to deploy dual Sercel TPS broadband seismic sources on a hybrid-receiver survey.
The dataset will integrate 12,300 sq km of streamer data and 3,300 sq km of OBN data acquired over the Malacca Strait.
Viridien will apply time-lag full-waveform inversion to the low-frequency TPS data to image the complex pre-tertiary sequences, where there is evidence of a previously unexplored Paleozoic sedimentary section.
Early results will be available in October.
About the Author
Jeremy Beckman
Staff Writer / Editor, Europe
Jeremy Beckman has been Editor Europe, Offshore since 1992. Prior to joining Offshore he was a freelance journalist for eight years, working for a variety of electronics, computing and scientific journals in the UK. He regularly writes news columns on trends and events both in the NW Europe offshore region and globally. He also writes features on developments and technology in exploration and production.