Eight foreign companies, including from India and Singapore have expressed interest in oil and gas exploration in the Mannar basin, the former Director General of the Petroleum Resource Development Secretariat, Saliya Wickramasuriya said.
If the bids were successful "Sri Lanka stands to benefit", Mr Wickramasuriya was quoted by the Sunday Leader as saying.
Cairn India stopped natural gas exploration in Mannar in 2015 after the petroleum price dropped internationally.
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