Cairn Energy to return cash to investors in Q2, finds more oil in India UPDATE |
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Published
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Mon, 29 Jan 2007 09:48
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(Adds more details)LONDON (AFX) - Cairn Energy PLC revealed plans to return cash to shareholders in the second quarter alongside news it has discovered more oil in its prized Rajasthan field in India.The cash will come from the proceeds of the initial share sale of Cairn India Ltd, which raised around 1.9 bln usd.Cairn Energy did not say how much of the proceeds will be distributed to investors. Its 100 pct stake in the Indian unit has been reduced to 69 pct following the offer.It also announced it had found more oil in Rajasthan, this time in the Shakti North East, located 6 kilometres north-east of the Shakti-1 discovery.The well, known as Shakti-NE-1, encountered about 'six metres of net pay of oil'. It flowed about 83 barrels of oil per day, it said.Also in India, a ultra-deep well on the KG-DWN-98/2 license, has struck hydrocarbons, Cairn Energy said.'The well has been side-tracked for mechanical reasons and is currently operating above the main target,' it said in a trading update.KG-DWN-98/2 is operated by India's state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp, while Cairn India owns 10 pct.In Mangala, the group's biggest oil strike in India, talks between Cairn Energy and ONGC are progressing and a resolution regarding the transport of the oil from the field to its users will likely be achieved in the first half of the year.'Discussions are progressing and Cairn India believes that this issue will be resolved in order to meet the schedule to achieve first oil in 2009,' the company said.In Bangladesh, the group said the proven and probable reserves in the Sangu field have been cut by 187 bln cubic feet after further drilling on the site, a decline in production, and the reclassification of the project's potential resources.'The impact of these adjustments is to reduce current Sangu gross booked reserves to 142 bln cubic feet, which represents less than 6 pct of the total estimated currently booked group reserves for 2006,' it said.Cairn Energy will publish its end-2006 reserves figures, which include the estimates for the Mangala, Aishwariya, Saraswati and Raageshwari fields, alongside the final results on March 27.Sangu woes were partly behind the fall in the group's overall production in 2006 to 24,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day from 28,300 boepd in 2005, the update said.In Nepal, the company said it acquired 100 pct interests in Blocks 3 and 5, subject to the completion of the contract and government approvals.It currently operates Blocks 1, 2, 4, 6 and 7. It hopes to start field production in the country in late-2007 or early 2008 'assuming continued improvement in the political climate' there.monicca.egoy@afxnews.comks/amCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2006. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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Cairn Energy to return cash to investors in Q2, finds more oil in India 