Russia has agreed to commence oil and gas exploration in the seas off Mannar and will send a group of experts to Sri Lanka in the near future for further discussion.

This was agreed following a discussion between President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Russian Gas and Oil company Gazprom in St. Petersburg last evening.

Gazprom company Chairman Alexei Miller has agreed to set a oil refinery in Sri Lanka.

The Russian company also agreed to send a group of experts to find out the possibility of using LNG in Sri Lanka.

Gazprom is the largest gas company in the world and supplies gas to a number of countries including 30 European nations with an annual supply of 500 million cubic metres.