Sakvithi Ranasinghe Arrested

Sakvithi Ranasinghe and his wife arrested in srilanka while being disguise. He pretended him self as a Tamil when arresting by Mirihana Police. Sakvithi returned from India two months ago and he arrested in Kaduwela,Nawagamuwa area.

Sakvithi Ranasinghe is the biggest financial fraudster in Srilankan history. He was in financial business, collecting large sums of money by promising high returns and safe(Ponzi Scams). However in 2008 Sakvithi has vanished with all the money. Worth of the money was 9000m Rs collected from Srilankan people.

Sakvithi and his wife have been handed over to the Criminal Investigations Department to carry out further investigations.

Srilanka Parliament Polls begins

Srilanka parliament polls to be held on 8 April, 2010. So far many political parties have handed over their nominations for each district. However UNP and new JVP alliance (DNA) not yet finalise the nominations and will be expected to handle on the final day of handing over nominations.

JVP and other political parties except UNP who were supported General Sarath Fonseka in the last Presidential polls entered in to a new alliance under the leadership of General Sarath Fonseka. Sarath Fonseka will be contested on Colombo District in this polls.

Meanwhile UNP decided contest to the polls under their historical 'Elephant Symbol' and the leadership of Ranil Wickramasinghe. JVP and UNP discussions on contesting under one alliance have been failed and UNP not entered in to JVP alliance. Many UNP parliamentarians said that they should contest under UNP as UNP is the Srilanka's largest and oldest political party.

Although JVP and UNP contested separately their main intention have not changed and will enter in to a new alliance after the polls.

Meantime Government type says thay are in a stronger position after the winning of presidential polls by President Mahinda Rajapaksha. They also says that thay are expecting majority of seats of next parliament.

Mahinda wins srilanka election

Mahinda Rajapaksha won the presidential election by defeating his main opoosition candidate Sarath Fonseka. Mahinda wins by 1.8 million votes margin than Fonseka.
Mahinda Rajapaksha can retain another 08 year duration in presidential position.

However Sarath Fonseka and his supporting parties says they can noit accept the results because election results are computer manipulated. JVP leader Somwansa Amarasinghe said that Computer Manipulation is not a new thing to Mahinda rajapaksha. During a previous election Mahinda Rajapaksha manipulated computer results to increase his voting counts and he said that by his own.

However Mahinda became the president of srilanka once again and he needs to concentrate on Srilanka Economy and Development rather slinging muds to opposition parties.

We hopes he will get supports from opposition parties and will make a real attempt on stopping the corruption and violence.

Honda launched a new robot for easy personal mobility

Honda Motor Co Yesterday Launched a new robot ("U3-X") that enables people to move around easily to any direction. The U3-X, equipped with the world's first omni-directional driving system, makes it possible to adjust speed and move, turn and stop an all directions when rider leans the upper body to shift body weight, Honda said.





Pics: Reuters

Mobitel to spend over $30 million to cover North and East

Srilanka Telecom Mobitel says they are heading to North and East by providing mobile communication facilities to those areas. Mobitel the mobile wing of Srilanka Telecom Ltd. is a leading mobile network in Srilanka.

Mobitel says they will spend about $30m to upgrade Mobitel network in post war zone.
Initially Mobitel will cover up Kandy-Jaffna A9 road spending about $5m.

Chief executive Suren Amarasekera said they are expecting to cover Northen area before the end year 2009.

Yaldevi Train Resumes its operations back

Yal Devi train service which has been suspended for the past 20-25 years, as LTTE activities, today restarts it's journey back.
Yaldevi train today traveled along northern railway track to Thandikulam Rail station which is few kilometers away from Vavuniya.

Srilanka Transportation Minister Mr. Dalas Alahapperuma has initiated the opening ceremony of 'Yaldevi backs'.

LTTE has caused much damage to Yaldevi Express by killing travelers and blasting the railway track.

More resources :
Yaldevi the queen of Express Trains
Princess to reign the northern rails again

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Obama to cut 100$ million within 90 days

Obama is to gather his full Cabinet together on Monday for the first time as president and challenge it to cut a total of $100 million in the next 90 days. US top officials said.
Obama returned to Washington on Sunday night from the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago, focusing on a plan to save government money.

However the official announcement to cut cost has not yet been issued. However, International NEWS agencies said that it's sure to implement such a plan immediately to cope with the United States recession.

As House and Senate lawmakers return from recess this week, they are expected to start reconciling their versions of the fiscal 2010 budget resolution. The president's budget request is $3.67 trillion.

Here are few plans on how to cut domestic cost.
• The Department of Homeland Security's plan to save an estimated $52 million over five years by purchasing office supplies in bulk.

• The Department of Agriculture's effort to consolidate 1,500 employees from seven locations into a single facility in 2011. It's estimated to save $62 million over a 15-year lease.

• The Veterans Affairs Department's move to cancel or delay 26 conferences, saving nearly $17.8 million. Veterans Affairs also will use video-conferencing to cut costs.

We are waiting how Obama and his government can deal with the recession in next few months.

U.S. Government contributes additional $15 million in emergency food aid for Sri Lanka

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated $15 million (Rs 1.7 billion) worth of vital food aid for Sri Lanka to the United Nations World Food Program (WFP). The food, consisting of wheat, lentils and vegetable oil, will be distributed to a large number of displaced and conflict-affected people in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka.

USAID, the development agency of the U.S. Government, announced that 19,490 MTs (metric tons) of emergency food relief will be used to support WFP activities in the North and East. The USAID donation will include 14,700 MTs of wheat, 3,750 MTs of lentils, and 1,040 MTs of vegetable oil, enough to provide essential food to 300,000 people over four months. The food aid is scheduled to arrive in June 2009.

"USAID is pleased to support WFP's efforts to provide emergency food aid to Sri Lankans who are severely affected by the conflict," stated USAID Mission Director Rebecca Cohn. "Our donation represents about 21% of the total food aid that WFP has called for this year to meet the needs of IDPs and other conflict-affected people in Sri Lanka. We know that our donation will help WFP provide food aid that benefits people in need in the North and East," she continued.

USAID food is also providing a critical lifeline for thousands of civilians now trapped by fighting in the "No Fire Zone." She noted that approximately 65 percent of the WFP food currently going into the conflict area by ship is provided by USAID.

"WFP highly values this contribution, not only that it is most needed given the current IDP situation in the North, but also because it is most timely, given the status of our pipeline," said Mr. Adnan Khan, WFP Representative in Sri Lanka.

In 2008, USAID provided 28,393 MT of food relief valued at almost $29 million (Rs 3.303 billion).

By focusing on emergency relief requirements and potential returns by IDPs to their homes, USAID's donation supports the WFP Protracted Relief and Recovery Operation (PRRO) titled "Food for Peacebuilding and Recovery in Conflict-Affected Areas." The WFP PRRO assists the Government of Sri Lanka in feeding 1.1 million people through emergency feeding and recovery programs including food-for-education, food-for-work, and mother-and-child health and nutrition.

WFP is the world's largest humanitarian agency and the UN's frontline agency for hunger solutions. In 2009, WFP aims to feed around 100 million people in 77 countries.

The American people, through the U.S. Agency for International Development, have provided development and humanitarian assistance in developing countries worldwide for nearly 50 years. Since 1956, USAID/Sri Lanka has invested nearly $2 billion to benefit all the people of Sri Lanka.

ADB says Sri Lanka needs to depreciate Rupee value

ADB officials spoke about Srilanka's economic conditions at a news conference held to mark the release of the bank's Asian Development Outlook 2009 report.

Sri Lanka should adopt a more flexible exchange rate policy and depreciate the rupee to make more competitive exports and better manage the demand of imports, the Asian Development Bank said.

"If the rupee is devalued now it may not have a dramatic impact on exports. But looking at the future when the global economy revives, then Sri Lanka will be in good shape if it has an appropriate exchange rate policy," said Rao, ADB Lead Economist for Sri Lanka.

Rao said two issues of concern are the fiscal deficit and the external account in which the exchange rate policy will play a key role.

"Rather than introducing many ad hoc (import) taxes that distort the market, it is better to manage import demand through exchange rate policy," said Richard Vokes, ADB country director.
"The ADB will argue that we want your exchange rate to be appropriately valued so it maximises exports, minimises imports, and maximises export substitution - a lot of items imported could be made domestically. So you want to try and encourage that."

"Srilanka government's policy space to give a stimulus to the economy was limited because of the large budget deficit and low foreign exchange reserves. Fiscal policy remains a major area of concern because it leaves the government very little room to stimulate the economy.
Sri Lanka's stimulus package is relatively small compared to other countries, the reason being that the government does not have the funds to stimulate the economy further.
But Sri Lanka does not have that fiscal space to be able to stimulate the economy.
Unless a fiscal correction takes place burden of adjustment will be falling on capital spending which means compromising on long-term growth.
So it's important measures are taken to increase revenue and there's some streamlining of current expenditure." Rao said.

"Another thing which reduces Sri Lanka's ability to stimulate the economy is the low level of foreign reserves because the moment you have a large fiscal package it will feed into the balance of payment. With demand for exports shrinking, it will mean further depletion of foreign exchange reserves."

Rao also acknowledged the government faced severe constraints with the biggest spending items being salaries, interest payment on debt and subsidies.

Cairn Energy Announces 2008 Results

In 2008, Cairn has focused on allocating its resources to those assets which will drive shareholder value. At 31 December 2008 Cairn had net cash of $898m, positive operating cash flows and net assets of $2.3bn.

The Group’s existing cash resources, debt facilities and cash flow from operations provide adequate funding to complete the core Mangala development project plus the pipeline and to commence first production in 2009. However, Cairn will continue to monitor the credit markets to assess current pricing and may consider expanding its facilities in due course.

Cairn has always maintained a capital structure appropriate for its operations in exploration, appraisal and development. Given the background of global market conditions Cairn decided to strengthen its equity capital base and earlier this month raised a further $161m through a 5% placing of shares.

HIGHLIGHTS

Operational
• Group booked entitlement reserves increased from 170.2 mmboe to 254.5 mmboe
• Gross operated production for 2008: 76,298 boepd (2007: 87,031 boepd)
• Average net entitlement production for 2008: 12,801 boepd (2007: 19,809 boepd)

India
• Phased Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya (MBA) development project on track and funded to deliver first oil from the core Mangala development during H2 2009
• Construction of Mangala Processing Terminal (MPT) underway with four processing trains planned with a nameplate capacity of 205,000 bopd with scope for expansion
• Four processing trains:
• Q3 2009: Mangala production train 1 (30,000 bopd capacity), initial export by trucking
• Q4 2009: Mangala production train 2 (50,000 bopd capacity), export by pipeline
• H1 2010: Mangala production train 3 (50,000 bopd capacity), providing for 125,000 bopd Mangala plateau production
• 2011: Production train 4 (75,000 bopd capacity), providing for 175,000 bopd Rajasthan plateau production.
• Aishwariya production potential upgraded from 10,000 bopd to 20,000 bopd, subject to regulatory approval
• More than 3,000 km2 of acreage secured under long term development contract
• Raageshwari East well, 90 km south of Mangala, flowed 500 bopd on test

Greenland
• Leading material frontier exploration position offshore west and south Greenland
• Processing of 10,000 km of 2D seismic data almost complete
• Additional seismic and well site surveys planned for summer 2009

Financial
• Cairn placing raised $161m
• Profit after tax of $367m including $356m exceptional gain on 4% placement of shares in Cairn India Limited (CIL) (2007 restated: $1,556m including $1,539m exceptional gain on IPO of CIL)
• Cash generated from operations $150m (2007: $155m )
• Group net cash at 31 December 2008 $898m ( 2007: $827m)

Sir Bill Gammell, Chief Executive said:
"Cairn’s Rajasthan development continues to grow in scope and scale as we approach first oil production in the second half of 2009.

The Mangala terminal includes the phased construction of four planned processing trains with a combined production capacity of 205,000 bopd and potential for expansion.

We have established a material frontier exploration position offshore west and south Greenland with 72,000 km2 under licence and the company continues to examine options for early drilling."

Group Production

Cairn’s average gross production during 2008 was 76,298 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) (2007: 87,031 boepd). The Group’s average entitlement production for 2008 was 12,801 boepd net to Cairn (2007:19,809 boepd). The figures below show group production for 2008 on a gross, working interest and entitlement interest basis (including 100% of both CIL’s and Capricorn’s production).

Production (boepd)

Ravva
Gross field: 53,809
Working interest: 12,107
Entitlement interest: 5,711

CB/OS-2
Gross field: 13,778
Working interest: 5,511
Entitlement interest: 4,478
Total 2,612

Sangu
Gross field: 8,711
Working interest: 5,511
Entitlement interest: 2,612

Total
Gross field: 76,298
Working interest: 20,885
Entitlement interest: 12,801

The average realised price per barrel of oil equivalent for 2008 was $63.88 (2007: $39.70). Cairn’s current entitlement interest production is 46% gas: 54% oil. On commencement of production from Rajasthan the vast majority of the Group’s production will be oil.

Group Booked 2P Reserves

The informationbelow shows reserves information at 31 December 2008 on an entitlement interest basis for the Group (including 100% of both CIL’s and Capricorn’s reserves). For accounting and reserves purposes, the Group has used an oil price assumption of $50/bbl for 2009 and $65 for 2010 onwards (real) (2007: $60/bbl (real)).

Reserves at 31.12.07 (mmboe)
India: 169.4
Bangladesh: 0.8
Total: 170.2

Produced in mmboe
India: (3.7)
Bangladesh: (1.0)
Total: (4.7)

Additions in mmboe
India: 65.9
Bangladesh: -
Total: 65.9

Revisions in mmboe
India: 21.3
Bangladesh: 1.8
Total: 23.1

On a direct working interest basis, 2P reserves as at 31 December 2008 have increased by 92.7 mmboe to 348.0 mmboe (31 December 2007: 255.3 mmboe), comprising 346.0 mmboe in India and 2.0 mmboe in Bangladesh. The net entitlement reserves position has also increased by 84.3 mmboe from 170.2 to 254.5 mmboe. This increase is largely due to the booking of Bhagyam and Aishwariya 2P reserves. It also includes an increase in the entitlement to Mangala oil as a result of the increase of plateau offtake rate and the inclusion of pipeline costs following the GoI approval to the moving of the delivery point to the coast. There is also a reduction as a consequence of a change in the Group’s oil price assumption.

India Reserves
With approved Field Development Plans (FDPs) in place for the Mangala, Saraswati, Raageshwari, Bhagyam and Aishwariya fields, net entitlement 2P reserves totalling 240.5 mmboe have been booked for the Rajasthan fields at the 2008 year end. There is a further 12.4 mmboe 2P reserves in the Lakshmi, Gauri and Ravva fields at the year end.

Bangladesh Reserves
The net entitlement 2P reserves for Sangu are 1.6 mmboe at the 2008 year end, compared to 0.8 mmboe at the 2007 year end. The increase has resulted from better than forecast production from a number of wells, well intervention work in Q4 2008 and incremental recovery associated with installation of onshore compression, which is due to commence operation in Q3 2009. A reduction in forecast operating costs has also extended the expected field life. Sangu net entitlement 2P reserves now represent around 0.6% of total booked Group reserves.

Overview of Operations

Cairn India
Rajasthan (Block RJ-ON-90/1) (Cairn India 70% (Operator); ONGC 30%)
Cairn and its JV partner ONGC now have 3,111 km2 under long term contract on the Rajasthan licence of which the main field development area covers 1,859 km2. The Bhagyam and Kameshwari development areas cover 430 km2 and 822 km2 respectively.

The phased integrated development plan for the block, which includes gas, water and pipeline operations, is focused on the Mangala field with the MPT the hub through which all facilities will be connected.

Development - Upstream
In readiness for production in Q3 2009 good progress is being made in the development of the MPT with more than 6,000 workers currently involved in upstream construction activities in Rajasthan.

The well pads to enable first production have been completed and development drilling is well underway with two multi purpose mobile drilling rigs at the Mangala site. The work over rig to complete the wells is also on site. The wells drilled to date support the ramp up production profile for the Mangala field.

Construction of the key facilities and related infrastructure in readiness for the Q3 start is making good progress with all of the key elements to enable production from the MPT now in an advanced stage of preparation. These include key features such as well pads, in-field infrastructure, processing facilities, export facilities and power generation and utilities.

The overall development includes the construction of four planned processing trains with a capacity of 205,000 bopd and scope for expansion:
- Q3 2009: Mangala production train 1 (30,000 bopd capacity), initial export by trucking
- Q4 2009: Mangala production train 2 (50,000 bopd capacity), export by pipeline
- H1 2010: Mangala production train 3 (50,000 bopd capacity), providing for 125,000 bopd Mangala plateau production
- 2011: Production train 4 (75,000 bopd capacity), providing for 175,000 bopd Rajasthan plateau production

Cairn has been able to significantly enhance the reserves, stock tank oil initially in place (STOIIP) and production rates since the original FDP was approved by the GoI in 2006. The key features of the revised Mangala FDP submitted in 2008 and which is now with GoI for approval are:
- A 25% increase in the plateau production rate to 125,000 bopd
- Upward revision of the 2P (P50) STOIIP to 1,293 mmbbls, an increase of more than 20% over the earlier estimated figures
- A 30% increase in the expected ultimate recovery over previous estimates to ~476 mmbbls (a recovery factor of around 37% of 2P STOIIP)

The revised FDP was submitted following further drilling in the development area, along with extensive subsurface and detailed design and engineering studies.

The front end engineering design for Bhagyam has been completed. The Aishwariya STOIIP has increased to 290 mmbbls. The estimated increased 2P reserves is 64 mmboe supporting a plateau production of 20,000 bopd compared to the 10,000 bopd plan approved in 2006. These estimates are subject to regulatory and partner approvals and the implementation of a revised FDP.

Development - Pipeline (Cairn India 70% (Operator) ONGC 30%)
Construction of the ~600 km insulated and heated pipeline is well underway with more than 4,000 personnel involved in the building of the facilities including the terminals.

Approval under Right of Use (ROU) has been obtained in principle from the GoI for the entire length of the pipeline from Barmer to the Gujarat coast. The land for all the above ground installations and the terminals at Viramgam, Radhanpur and the Gujarat coast has been acquired.

The pipeline route through Rajasthan and Gujarat passes through eight districts and more than 250 villages. There are also 35 heating stations under construction along the length of the pipeline plus a terminal at Viramgam, which will function as both a storage and pump station with the ability to distribute to refiners.

Currently there are nine pipeline laying spreads deployed in Gujarat and Rajasthan. To date ~215 km of pipeline has been constructed and lowered.
The pipeline route has ~600 crossings of various types (rivers, roads, rail etc) with all the necessary approvals from the respective statutory authorities in place. In total there are 59 cased crossings of which 36 have been completed with construction underway on seven additional cased crossings.

Construction at the Viramgam terminal is well advanced, with all storage tanks and the main building superstructures nearing completion. The manufacture and delivery of all long lead items are in the final stages of completion and are well in advance of the dates they are required on site to support construction.

Rajasthan - Sales
India currently imports more than two million bopd against a domestic production of 700,000 bopd. The Indian refining sector is growing rapidly and demand for crude oil is expected to increase.

Following final GoI approvals, the route of the Rajasthan pipeline allows access to an existing pipeline infrastructure, with a final coastal delivery point that will afford access to the majority of India’s refining capacity.

The oil from Rajasthan is categorised as medium sweet crude with an average API of 280. The viscosity and pour point are relatively high, but normal for crude generated from this type of onshore lacustrine source rock. The oil must however be kept warm during transportation.

Prior to first production via the pipeline the crude from the MPT will be trucked to the Gujarat coast. The GoI has nominated Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Limited (MRPL) as purchaser of the crude and is in the process of confirming additional nominees. Currently, Cairn India’s focus is to complete arrangements for crude oil sales in Q3 2009.

In order to facilitate the trucking and sale of oil ahead of the pipeline completion trial runs have been successfully carried out on the route from Mangala to the Gujarat coast.

Kameshwari Development Area (Cairn India 100%)
During 2008 the GoI approved the three discoveries made in Kameshwari West 2, 3 and 6 and the new Development Area of 822 km2.

Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR)
Cairn has made 25 discoveries in the RJ-ON-90/1 block to date and has established a significant growing resource base in the Barmer basin, currently estimated at around 3.7 billion barrels of oil in place. Cairn continues its efforts to develop this resource base through the application of appropriate cost efficient technologies. The initial focus has been to develop the MBA fields which contain over two billion barrels in place in the Fatehgarh reservoirs, through primary and secondary recovery schemes.

Cairn continues its efforts on the staged and early application of aqueous-based chemical flooding EOR techniques in the MBA fields. Early application of chemical flooding EOR in these fields would be designed to increase the overall recovery from the fields, extend their crude oil production plateau periods, reduce water production, mitigate future decline rates and potentially accelerate crude oil production. Cairn is actively planning to conduct an EOR pilot trial in the Mangala field following very encouraging results obtained from the laboratory and simulation studies. The current assessment of the EOR resource base is more than 300 mmbbls of incremental recoverable oil from the MBA fields.

In addition Cairn continues to evaluate the resources and the development options of the other discoveries, of which the Barmer Hill formation over the Mangala and Aishwariya fields contains around 400 mmbbls of oil in place in tighter reservoir rocks (lower permeabilities). This reservoir has tested oil at rates of up to 250 bopd after stimulation. Analogous fields in the world have been developed with expected ultimate recoveries of 7-20% under primary and secondary recovery schemes. Cairn is planning to conduct pilot activities to evaluate this additional resource potential and associated development options.

Cairn will also continue to consider low cost development options for the smaller fields through the use of cost effective technologies and by leveraging the existing infrastructure.

Cairn India - Producing Assets
Average gross production from Block CB/OS-2 for 2008 was 13,778 boepd (comprising average gas production of 39 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) and average oil/condensate production of 7,228 bopd).

Oil production has increased from the new wells that were added during the 2008 infill well development drilling campaign.

Krishna-Godavari Basin - Eastern India

Ravva (Cairn India 22.5% (Operator)
Average gross production from the Ravva field for 2008 was 53,809 boepd (comprising average oil production of 41,999 bopd and average gas production of 71 mmscfd).

Production at Ravva is being sustained with the contribution from new wells and successful workovers that were conducted in the 2008 drilling campaign. Further studies are continuing to identify additional in place reserves within the field.

Three new infield subsea pipelines have been installed to overcome pipeline capacity bottlenecks and the commissioning of these pipelines is ongoing to aid production from the field.

Cairn India - Exploration
During 2008 Cairn India operated four of seven wells in which it participated, three of which were successful:
- The RB-4 well in Ravva encountered additional oil sands that were later put on stream at 500 bopd through the Ravva production facilities.
- Raageshwari East-1 in Rajasthan flowed 500 bopd and 0.4 mmscfd on test from Thumbli sands in a separate oil accumulation adjacent to the Raageshwari field.
- The Mangala North-1 well extended the contingent resource in the Barmer Hill Formation for the Mangala field.

Two wells were drilled in CB-ONN-2002/1 and one in each of GV-ONN-2002/1 and GV-ONN-97/1, all of which were dry.

Seismic acquisition included both 2D and 3D seismic in blocks KG-ONN-2003/1, GV-ONN-2003/1 and 2D in block VN-ONN-2003/1. A marine 2D seismic survey was also completed in block KK-DWN-2004/1 in 2008.

Over the next 12 months further drilling and seismic programmes are planned. Drilling is scheduled onshore in the KG basin, with acquisition of 3D seismic totalling 1,800 km2 to commence offshore India and in Sri Lanka.

Capricorn

Capricorn continues to build an asset base for exploration led growth and has strengthened its exploration portfolio by building its acreage position in Greenland throughout 2008.

Capricorn now has assets in South Asia (Northern India, Bangladesh and Nepal), Greenland, the Mediterranean (Tunisia, Albania and pending licence awards in Spain) and Papua New Guinea.

Greenland

Capricorn has acquired a leading frontier exploration position offshore west and south Greenland.

The prospective geological basins around the coast of Greenland are at a very early stage of evaluation with only six offshore and one onshore exploration well having been drilled to date, and most of those during the 1970s. However, the results of these wells, together with more recent onshore geological mapping over the past 15 years, have confirmed the presence of all the essential elements required for the generation and trapping of hydrocarbons.

The Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal study published by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 2008 estimates significant “yet to find” hydrocarbons within the Arctic Greenlandic basins, recognising Greenland as a potentially very prospective, but under- explored country.

The report contains the USGS assessment of risked potential in the eastern Greenland (31 billion boe)), northern Greenland (3.3 billion boe) and western Greenland – east Canada (17 billion boe) basins. The south Greenland offshore area lies outside of the Arctic Circle and was not included in the survey.
The Greenlandic and Danish authorities are in the process of gradually opening up the Arctic areas of these basins to the industry through competitive bid rounds, whilst other selected areas are available via application.

During 2008, Capricorn completed its obligation seismic work programme for the first licence phase over all six of its operated licences. A 6,600 km 2D seismic survey was acquired in the Disko West blocks Sigguk and Eqqua, followed by the acquisition of a further 1,200 km 2D seismic survey in the southern Kingittoq and Saqqamuit blocks and around 1,780 km of 2D seismic data over the Salliit and Uummannarsuaq blocks (Cape Farewell 1 & 2). Processing of all the collected data is nearing completion.

A Controlled Source Electromagnetic Survey (CSEM) was also acquired in 2008 over the Lady Franklin and Atammik blocks operated by EnCana and the data is currently being evaluated.

Additional seismic and well site surveys are being planned for the 2009 operational season.

Bangladesh

Production and Development
In 2008, the Sangu gas field passed a landmark of 10 years on production, during which time it has consistently demonstrated an enviable record for safety and low cost production. The field is now in decline and during the year, Cairn and its JV partners successfully completed three well intervention programmes and committed to a compression project which is currently being implemented. These measures will help to increase and extend production.

The third well intervention programme carried out on wells 1 and 9 in the Sangu field resulted in an initial 60% improvement in production, and rates are now around 55 mmscfd.

To augment further gas production from Sangu the installation of an onshore compressor is under way and is expected to be operational by July 2009.

Sangu has produced in excess of 440 bcf since production started in 1998. Located in the Bay of Bengal, some 50 km off the coast at Chittagong, the field is the only offshore gas field in Bangladesh. Sangu was one of the largest discoveries in the 1990s, when Cairn was one of the first international companies to start operating in the country. To date, Cairn and its JV partners have invested approximately $1 bn in Bangladesh.
The JV partners in the Sangu field are currently Cairn, Santos and HBR Energy.

Exploration
Following the drilling campaign at Magnama and Hatia earlier in 2008, there have been no further operations in Block 16 and an appraisal programme is being considered.

In Block 5 Cairn and its JV Partner Santos have decided not to proceed into the next phase of the PSC and the block has therefore been returned to the Government of Bangladesh.

Nepal

The security situation in Nepal continues to be monitored closely. Contractual force majeure remains in place on the acreage in Nepal, precluding in-country operations. As soon as the security situation permits, fieldwork will include aerogravity and seismic acquisition.

Other Assets (Tunisia, Albania, Australia, Peru, Spain, Papua New Guinea)

In the Mediterranean, site surveys have been carried out in Tunisia for exploration well locations in both the Louza and Nabeul permits.

An environmental impact assessment is presently underway offshore Albania ahead of a planned 2009 3D seismic survey.

Several licence applications offshore Spain remain pending. As a result of an ongoing rationalisation programme, the exploration permits inherited from Plectrum in Australia (Bremer Basin), Peru and The Shetlands have been either transferred or relinquished.

In Papua New Guinea the Operator (Talisman) has recently completed a 3D seismic survey over the undeveloped Pandora gas field to define better the extent of the gas resource.

Source : OilVoice

BPO puts Sri Lanka on the top of global Outsourcing map

"Sri Lanka shares many of the attributes that make India such an attractive location for outsourcing work. These include a low-cost of labor, a plentiful pool of educated and English-speaking workers, high literacy levels, and a legal system that is based on a Western model."

Sri Lanka is some way down the list of global sourcing locations, but its newly created outsourcing trade association believes that the country has the necessary attributes to become a leading center for business process outsourcing. Although the country has learnt much from India's success it must develop its own strengths and focus on attracting high-profile vendors over the next few years.

Sri Lanka's budding offshore industry has inevitably been overshadowed by its larger Indian neighbor, which has been the world's leading sourcing hub for the last decade. However, the market situation is now more favorable, as vendors are increasingly looking to offer services from multiple locations, often using India as a central hub while also delivering services from satellite facilities in Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia.

Sri Lanka has clearly learnt much from India's success; even the name of its newly formed trade association, Slasscom, is clearly modeled on India's own, highly successful Nasscom. However, it is not simply trying to imitate the success of its larger counterpart. Whereas a broad range of both IT and business process outsourcing (BPO) services can be delivered from facilities in India, Sri Lanka has opted to focus on just a few domain areas, including finance and accounting BPO, and knowledge process outsourcing.

The decision to adopt a narrow focus on areas such as finance and accounting is a sensible one. Sri Lanka, with a population of around 20 million people, cannot hope to match the all-round capabilities of India (which has a population of well over one billion) but it does have a significant labor pool of qualified accountants waiting to be tapped. According to figures from the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) of Sri Lanka, approximately 50,000 Sri Lankans qualify as accountants each year.

Despite these positive qualities, there is much work to be done before Sri Lanka can be considered a major outsourcing location. Competition among nations has never been stronger, with locations in China, Mexico, the Philippines and the Czech Republic, to name but a few, proving themselves capable of delivering high-quality low-cost services.

As well as competition from other nations, Sri Lanka must contend with a number of other challenges that could retard growth. The first relates to infrastructure; telecom costs in the country are high when compared with the rest of South-East Asia, which can reduce the country's cost advantage over its local rivals. Furthermore, its IT and BPO industry is currently heavily centered on the Colombo metropolitan region and there are question marks over the ability of second tier cities to support this kind of work.

To help allay these and other investor concerns, Sri Lanka needs to attract a number of high-profile outsourcing vendors. Currently, significant players with facilities in the country include WNS and RR Donnelley. If Slasscom were able to attract other major players, such as Accenture or ACS, it would provide a significant boost to the country's growth.

Source: outsourcingbpo.cbronline.com