Minister of Petroleum Industries Susil Premajayantha at Petrotech 2010 Print option in slimbox / lytebox? (info)
Thursday, 04 November 2010 07:50

Minister of Petroleum Industries Susil Premajayantha visited India from 31 Oct-4 Nov 2010 to attend the Petrotech 2010 International Oil & Gas Conference at the invitation of Indian Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas Murli Deora. Petrotech is Asia's biggest biennial oil & gas industry event and the theme of this event was 'Global Energy Equilibrium’.

Minister Premajayantha speaking at the Ministerial Session of the Conference, referred to the desirability of converting thermal power plants to use LNG since the cost of production using furnace oil can be unsustainable. Sri Lanka meets about 40% of its fuel needs by refining crude oil and the balance is imported and steps are being taken to double the capacity of the refineries. Referring to the peaceful situation prevailing in the country after the elimination of terrorism, he said that Sri Lanka is growing rapidly and that mega development projects are being implemented. The country has managed to reduce inflation and unemployment while maintaining a very good growth rate.

Minister Premajayantha met with Minister Deora where the bilateral cooperation in petroleum sector was discussed in the presence of senior officials of the Indian Government and leading public sector companies involved in the petroleum sector. The two Ministers also agreed to expedite the proposed discussions on the matter of establishing a joint information mechanism on the possibility of oil and gas fields straddling the India Sri Lanka Maritime Boundary, as mentioned in the Joint Declaration issued at the end of the State Visit of President Mahainda Rajapaksa in June 2010.