• Our foreign debt amount is around US $ 45Bn
• We have oil and gas deposits valued US$ 240Bn

By Kelum Bandara 

Sri Lanka has identified oil and gas deposits currently valued US 240 billion, Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila said.  

The Minister told Daily Mirror that Sri Lanka could well tide over the issue related to its foreign debt sustainability if it harnessed the full potential of these offshore oil and gas resources. 

“Our foreign debt amount is around US $ 45 billion. But, we have oil and gas deposits valued US$ 240 billion,” he said.  He also said the new piece of legislation which, if enacted by Parliament, would provide for the upstream of oil and gas industry, would be presented to the Cabinet next Monday for approval.