Fisheries Minister Dr. Mohamed Shainee has stated that there was a high possibility that gas and oil deposits are located in the Maldives’ sea area.
He made the statement speaking to press after a fact finding mission to Germany, regarding the possibility of oil in the country. The German research vessel, RV Sonne, had conducted seismic surveys at two of the three locations that are most likely to have oil fields during its last tour before retiring from scientific use in late August, 2014.
Dr. Shainee stated the survey indicated that there were locations that had particular source rocks unique to areas covering oil fields. He added that the company was capable of conducting the seismic surveys but not determine how oil can be extracted or how much oil exists in the bed.
However, Dr. Shainee assured that the survey had shown that the material emanating was either oil or gas. He stated that the some of the locations researched were between 300 and 400 meters in diameter. He added that another ship will arrive in Male’, within two to three months, to conduct deep water drilling studies.
Dr. Shainee said that Norwegian and English companies were interested in oil exploration but had not finalized on a company to conduct the operation. He also said that this will be determined after discussions.