By Yohan Perera and Ajith Siriwardana  

Government will begin dredging natural gas from the well M2 in Mannar together with a suitable investor next year, Minister of Energy Udaya Gammanpila told Parliament yesterday.  

Minister Gammanpila said the government has planned to have an auction to select a suitable investor early next year.  

A sum of $ 231 million has been spent for experimenting, to determine whether there are natural gas resources in Mannar basin. “This has been borne by a company jointly owned by Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and an Indian Company,”  the Minister said. 

 
The Minister said refined oil will be imported only as a precaution to the current foreign exchange crisis. Only 43 percent of the imported crude oil is converted into petrol and diesel. Therefore the importation halt of crude oil is only a temporary measure,” he said.