Cairn India said the 3D seismic surveys by its local unit, Cairn Lanka, will be completed in three months after which the company will analyse the data. Alexey Miller, chairman of Gazprom’s Management Committee, had met President Rajapaksa Monday, the oil firm said in a statement.
"The parties discussed prospects for Russian-Sri Lankan cooperation in the oil and gas sector.
"In particular, they focused on Gazprom’s possible participation in the development of offshore hydrocarbon deposits in Sri Lanka."
Cairn India, a private oil firm, has already bought one oil exploration block off Mannar in Sri Lanka's north western coast through an open auction.
In December, it began three-dimensional seismic surveys to pinpoint sites for test drills later on in the Gulf of Mannar waters off Sri Lanka's north-west.