Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga said that a massive oil deposit has been detected along the country's Puttalam to Hambantota coastal belt, Daily News reported Friday.

This rare resource is to be exploited from next month, President Kumaratunga said.

The president was quoted as saying that the leaders who will succeed her should use this resource to bring prosperity to all the people in the south as well as the north.

"We have still not found if the oil deposit stretches to the North," the president said, adding the oil deposit remained a secret until now but it was time to bring it to light.

Source: Xinhua