Oil tenders within three months

Exploration of petroleum resources expedited:

Rajmi Manatunga

COLOMBO: The Government will call for international tenders to explore oil resources along Sri Lanka's sea belt within the next three months.

Petroleum and Petroleum Resources Development Minister A.H.M. Fowzie told the Daily News that tenders for the exploration will be called within the next two to three months after the preliminary work is completed.

According to the Ministry, a company based in the United Kingdom has been entrusted with the task of assisting the Government in carrying out the preparatory work of the tender procedure in line with international standards.

"The company is in the process formulating the modalities of the tender procedure including production sharing and the data package. We hope to call tenders from reputed international firms once the preliminary work is concluded," Ministry Secretary A.P.A. Gunasekere said.

Minister Fowzie said that the tender procedure was launched after several rounds of discussions with groups and individuals interested in the exploration including political parties and other organisations.

"During the discussions, we submitted and explained to them the Government's programme to explore the oil deposits. They expressed their satisfaction regarding the programme."

According to the Minister, Sri Lanka will be able to save over Rs. 200 billion in foreign exchange spent on importing oil once the oil deposits detected along the sea belt from Puttalam to Hambantota are exploited.