The Ministerial Consultative Committee on Energy Affairs approved the Order relating to the calling for investment proposals for the exploration and development of petroleum resources in Sri Lanka and the formalization of the relevant process.

The approval was granted at a meeting of the Ministerial Consultative Committee held recently (11) at Parliament under the chairmanship of Anura Karunathilaka, Hon. Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation and Energy.

The Order, made by the Minister of Energy under Section 48 of the Petroleum Resources Act, No. 21 of 2021, read together with Section 17 of the said Act, and approved by the Cabinet of Ministers, was published in the Extraordinary Gazette No. 2497/37 dated 16 July 2026.

Under this Order, any person seeking to explore or develop petroleum resources in one or more identified blocks is required to submit an investment proposal together with payment of the administrative fee specified in the relevant invitation for bids.

Deputy Minister of Energy Arkam Illyas, Members of Parliament, officials of the Ministry of Energy, and other officials participated in the meeting.