Opportunities added to Cairn frontier drilling

RNS Number : 0891E

Cairn Energy PLC

07 May 2013

 



EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 0700                                                                             7 May 2013              

CAIRN ENERGY PLC ("Cairn")

Further opportunities added to Cairn frontier drilling programme

Cairn Energy PLC (Cairn) is pleased to announce a farm-in as Operator to two licences offshore West of Ireland in the Porcupine Basin, which contains the undeveloped Spanish Point gas condensate and Burren oil discoveries, and six adjacent licensing option blocks.  The acreage covers an area of 2,753km² with more than 500km² of 3D seismic and will provide locations for Cairn's frontier drilling programme.

The two licences - FEL 2/04 (which includes the Spanish Point and Burren discoveries) and FEL 4/08, together cover an area of 1,242km² - are currently operated by Chrysaor (60% Working Interest (WI)) with Providence Resources (32% WI) and SOSINA Exploration Ltd (8% WI).  The six adjacent licensing option blocks, known as Licensing Option (LO) 11/2, cover an area of 1,511km² and can be converted to a FEL from October 2013.

Cairn will acquire, subject to regulatory and partner approval, a 38% WI and Operatorship by paying a pro-rated share of back costs amounting to $4.1million (as at 31 December, 2012) and 63.33% of future exploration and appraisal costs for up to two wells, subject to a cap.  Costs in excess of the cap will be shared by the parties according to their equity interests.  Based on Cairn's estimate of the expected well cost, Cairn anticipates it will be contributing ~55% of the cost of each well.

Drilling of the first appraisal well on Spanish Point is targeted for Q2 2014.  The partners also currently expect to propose a 3D seismic work programme on LO 11/2.   A further well will be considered following the initial appraisal well.

Simon Thomson, Chief Executive, Cairn Energy PLC said:

"The addition of this prospective acreage off the west coast of Ireland in the Porcupine Basin brings further exploration and appraisal potential to Cairn's frontier Atlantic Margin portfolio.  Our operated, multi-well exploration programme, for which a rig has been secured, will start later this year in Morocco."

Enquiries:

Analysts/Investors David Nisbet, Corporate Affairs	Tel: [phone]
Media Patrick Handley, David Litterick Brunswick Group LLP	Tel: [phone]

NOTES TO EDITORS

Quad 35 where the licences are located contains two proven discoveries: the Spanish Point gas/condensate field and the Burren oil field plus multiple prospects and leads in the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous intervals. The Spanish Point discovery was made by Phillips in 1981 with exploration well 35/8-2 and lies at the northern end of the Porcupine Basin in approximately 400m of water.

The Spanish Point gas-condensate field is located in <500 metres water approximately 160km offshore Ireland's west coast.  

Following regulatory and partner approval of today's announcement, the interests in the licences will be:

FEL 2/04 & 4/08	Capricorn 38% (Operator)	Chrysaor 26%	Providence 32%	Sosina 4%
LO 11/2	Capricorn 38% (Operator)	Chrysaor 26%	Providence 32%	Sosina 4%

Cairn Energy PLC ('Cairn') is one of Europe's leading independent oil and gas exploration and development companies and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Cairn has discovered and developed oil and gas reserves in a variety of locations around the world. The company historically focused its activities on the geographic region of South Asia where it operated for more than 20 years.  During this time it discovered, developed and produced oil and gas both offshore and onshore in Bangladesh and India and made more than 40 significant discoveries.  In particular, Cairn made a major oil discovery in Rajasthan in the north west of India at the beginning of 2004 where over 25 discoveries have since been made with the potential to provide more than 30% of India's crude oil production.  Today, Cairn continues to hold an approximate 10% shareholding in Cairn India Limited. Cairn's business operations are now focused on frontier exploration acreage in Morocco, Senegal, Greenland and the Mediterranean along with exploration and pre-development interests in the North Sea. Cairn has its headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland supported by operational offices in London, Greenland, Norway, Spain and Morocco. 

Cairn in Morocco

Ø Cairn operates two exploration permits offshore Morocco where it is planning a multi-well drilling programme commencing H2 2013.

Cairn in Greenland

Ø Cairn through its subsidiary, Capricorn, operates 11 blocks offshore Greenland.

Ø A total of 14 exploration wells have been drilled offshore Greenland to date, five of which were drilled in the 1970s, one in 2000, three in 2010 by Cairn and five by Cairn in 2011.

Cairn in UK and Norway

Ø Cairn has non-operated and operated exploration, appraisal and development assets in the UK and Norwegian North Sea.

Cairn in the Mediterranean area

Ø Cairn is in the early stages of carrying out frontier exploration in Spain.

Ø Cairn has interests in Area 3 in Malta.

Cairn in Senegal

Ø Cairn has farmed-in as Operator (65%) to three blocks offshore Senegal, subject to regulatory approval.

Cairn in Ireland

Ø Cairn has farmed-in as Operator (38%) to two licences offshore West of Ireland, subject to regulatory and partner approval.

Cairn and Corporate Responsibility

Ø Cairn is a signatory to the UN Global Compact and our core values of respect, responsibility, relationships and our commitments towards people, the environment and society are enshrined in our Business Principles, which are available on the Cairn website at http://www.cairnenergy.com/index.asp?pageid=282

Ø Cairn's approach to sustainability and performance in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines is detailed in our annual Corporate Responsibility Reports, available at: http://www.cairnenergy.com/index.asp?pageid=279&year=latest

For further information on Cairn please see: www.cairnenergy.com

 

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