diff --git a/src/DatabaseLibrary/query.py b/src/DatabaseLibrary/query.py
index 0797d69..2e817a1 100644
--- a/src/DatabaseLibrary/query.py
+++ b/src/DatabaseLibrary/query.py
@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ def execute_sql_script(self, sqlScriptFileName, sansTran=False):
         state before running your tests, or clearing out your test data after running each a test. Set optional input
         `sansTran` to True to run command without an explicit transaction commit or rollback.
 
+        
         Sample usage :
         | Execute Sql Script | ${EXECDIR}${/}resources${/}DDL-setup.sql |
         | Execute Sql Script | ${EXECDIR}${/}resources${/}DML-setup.sql |
@@ -207,7 +208,7 @@ def execute_sql_script(self, sqlScriptFileName, sansTran=False):
         | Execute Sql Script | ${EXECDIR}${/}resources${/}DML-teardown.sql |
         | Execute Sql Script | ${EXECDIR}${/}resources${/}DDL-teardown.sql |
 
-        SQL commands are expected to be delimited by a semi-colon (';').
+        SQL commands are expected to be delimited by a semi-colon (';') - they will be executed separately.
 
         For example:
         DELETE FROM person_employee_table;
@@ -232,8 +233,9 @@ def execute_sql_script(self, sqlScriptFileName, sansTran=False):
         DELETE
           FROM employee_table
 
-        However, lines that starts with a number sign (`#`) are treated as a
-        commented line. Thus, none of the contents of that line will be executed.
+        However, lines that starts with a number sign (`#`) or a double dash ("--")
+        are treated as a commented line. Thus, none of the contents of that line will be executed.
+
 
         For example:
         # Delete the bridging table first...
@@ -245,50 +247,68 @@ def execute_sql_script(self, sqlScriptFileName, sansTran=False):
         DELETE
           FROM employee_table
 
+        The slash signs ("/") are always ignored and have no impact on execution order.
+
         Using optional `sansTran` to run command without an explicit transaction commit or rollback:
         | Execute Sql Script | ${EXECDIR}${/}resources${/}DDL-setup.sql | True |
         """
-        sqlScriptFile = open(sqlScriptFileName ,encoding='UTF-8')
-
-        cur = None
-        try:
-            cur = self._dbconnection.cursor()
-            logger.info('Executing : Execute SQL Script  |  %s ' % sqlScriptFileName)
-            sqlStatement = ''
-            for line in sqlScriptFile:
-                PY3K = sys.version_info >= (3, 0)
-                if not PY3K:
-                    #spName = spName.encode('ascii', 'ignore')
-                    line = line.strip().decode("utf-8")
-                if line.startswith('#'):
-                    continue
-                elif line.startswith('--'):
-                    continue
-
-                sqlFragments = line.split(';')
-                if len(sqlFragments) == 1:
-                    sqlStatement += line + ' '
-                else:
+        with open(sqlScriptFileName, encoding='UTF-8') as sql_file:
+            cur = None
+            try:
+                statements_to_execute = []
+                cur = self._dbconnection.cursor()
+                logger.info('Executing : Execute SQL Script  |  %s ' % sqlScriptFileName)
+                current_statement = ''
+                inside_statements_group = False
+
+                for line in sql_file:
+                    line = line.strip()
+                    if line.startswith('#') or line.startswith('--') or line == "/":
+                        continue
+                    if line.lower().startswith("begin"):
+                        inside_statements_group = True
+                    
+                    # semicolons inside the line? use them to separate statements
+                    # ... but not if they are inside a begin/end block (aka. statements group)
+                    sqlFragments = line.split(';')
+                    
+                    # no semicolons
+                    if len(sqlFragments) == 1:
+                        current_statement += line + ' '
+                        continue
+                    
+                    # "select * from person;" -> ["select..", ""]
                     for sqlFragment in sqlFragments:
                         sqlFragment = sqlFragment.strip()
                         if len(sqlFragment) == 0:
                             continue
-
-                        sqlStatement += sqlFragment + ' '
-
-                        self.__execute_sql(cur, sqlStatement)
-                        sqlStatement = ''
-
-            sqlStatement = sqlStatement.strip()
-            if len(sqlStatement) != 0:
-                self.__execute_sql(cur, sqlStatement)
-
-            if not sansTran:
-                self._dbconnection.commit()
-        finally:
-            if cur:
+                        if inside_statements_group:
+                            # if statements inside a begin/end block have semicolns,
+                            # they must persist - even with oracle
+                            sqlFragment += "; "
+                        if sqlFragment.lower() == "end; ":
+                            inside_statements_group = False
+                        elif sqlFragment.lower().startswith("begin"):
+                            inside_statements_group = True
+                        current_statement += sqlFragment
+                        if not inside_statements_group:
+                            statements_to_execute.append(current_statement.strip())
+                            current_statement = ''
+
+                current_statement = current_statement.strip()
+                if len(current_statement) != 0:
+                    statements_to_execute.append(current_statement)
+                    
+                for statement in statements_to_execute:
+                    logger.info(f"Executing statement from script file: {statement}")
+                    omit_semicolon = not statement.lower().endswith("end;")
+                    self.__execute_sql(cur, statement, omit_semicolon)
                 if not sansTran:
-                    self._dbconnection.rollback()
+                    self._dbconnection.commit()
+            finally:
+                if cur:
+                    if not sansTran:
+                        self._dbconnection.rollback()
 
     def execute_sql_string(self, sqlString, sansTran=False):
         """