Two years needed to produce gas: Minister

Reuters: Sri Lanka will take 18 to 24 months to reach commercial production of natural gas in the Mannar Basin offshore, where Cairn India Ltd. has discovered a gas deposit, the country’s Petroleum Minister said on Tuesday.

“It will take 18 to 24 months for commercial exploration,” said Petroleum Industries Minister Susil Premajayanth, referring to the gas deposit discovered in Mannar Basin. Sri Lanka’s President Mahinda Rajapaksa on Sunday announced the discovery of a gas deposit in the seabed and Cairn said further drilling was needed to establish the commerciality of the discovery.