Regulatory Mandate & Compliance Overview

As the upstream petroleum regulator, the Petroleum Development Authority of Sri Lanka (PDASL) is legally mandated by the Petroleum Resources Act No. 21 of 2021 to manage the nation's petroleum resources and regulate all exploration, development, and production operations.

To ensure safe, transparent, and legally sound development, PDASL is responsible for formulating and enforcing relevant regulations, guidelines, maps, and charts, as well as issuing licenses and monitoring work contracts for strict compliance. Our mandate extends to facilitating upstream investments through petroleum resources agreements and joint study agreements, promoting blocks, and conducting global licensing rounds. Furthermore, PDASL is dedicated to strengthening the national data repository through continuous data acquisition, processing, and reprocessing, managing the fiscal regime to ensure Sri Lanka maximizes its domestic economic benefits, and ensuring absolute compliance with environmental and Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) standards. Through these functions, PDASL acts as a vital governance body, providing expert advisories and policy recommendations to senior state leadership.

To effectively execute this statutory mandate, PDASL operates through a structured institutional framework comprised of specialized core divisions, including Exploration, Production Operations, National Benefits, HSEQ, Legal & Compliance, Finance, and Administration & Human Resources.