ODP.NET

I have recently upgraded to the Managed ODP.NET from the native version and I am suddenly experiencing severe performance problems on startup. I have found it is due to 'new OracleConnection' taking significantly longer to execute. The connection string is the same.

Previously, it was almost instant. Now, it takes up to 15 seconds. This adds up to a significant amount of time when multiple queries are executed on startup, each using its own connection. I have had to resort to keeping a single connection open (like a singleton), but this is against the recommended practice and it is still a significantly longer time than before.

Is there a reason for this? Is there perhaps a setting that I should be using?

Is there any logging for Managed ODP.NET that I can look at to see if anything untoward is going on?

Thanks.