Senegal Farm-in

RNS Number : 2901A

Cairn Energy PLC

19 March 2013

 



EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 0700                                                                          19 March 2013  

CAIRN ENERGY PLC ("Cairn")
Senegal frontier exploration acreage farm-in

Cairn Energy PLC (Cairn) is pleased to announce a farm-in as Operator of three blocks offshore Senegal in West Africa. This transaction will add a number of drillable prospects to the frontier exploration inventory and drilling programme in the next 18 months.

The three contiguous blocks - Rufisque, Sangomar and Sangomar Deep - are currently operated by FAR Limited (FAR) with Petrosen (the Senegal National Oil Company) as a Joint Venture (JV) partner.  FAR is an independent Australian Securities Exchange listed oil and gas explorer with exploration interests which include West and East Africa.

Cairn is to acquire a 65% working interest (WI) and Operatorship by fully funding the 100% costs of one exploration well to an investment cap. Thereafter exploration costs will be apportioned Cairn 72.2% (WI 65%), FAR 27.8% (WI 25%) and Petrosen 0.0% (WI 10%). As part of the transaction Cairn will also pay 72.2% of costs incurred on the blocks by FAR to date, a total of ~$10m.

The working and paying interests for any development will be Cairn 59.2%, FAR 22.8% and Petrosen 18%.  In the event that FAR wishes to subsequently farm-down additional equity, Cairn will retain certain preferential rights. The farm-in is subject to regulatory approval.

The three blocks cover an area of ~7,490km² near shore to deep water exploration over the shelf, slope and basin floor of the Senegalese portion of the productive Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea-Bissau Basin. The acreage is covered by a 2,050km² 3D seismic survey and a number of play types, leads and prospects have been identified. 

Simon Thomson, Chief Executive, Cairn Energy PLC said:

"The farm-in to acreage offshore Senegal is a further new country entry for Cairn and represents a highly attractive addition to our existing Atlantic Margin portfolio alongside our exploration interests in Morocco and Greenland.  By developing an increased strategic presence in the under-explored but highly prospective region of North West Africa, we can generate both operational and geological synergies and fully apply our frontier exploration skills.

The Senegalese acreage is an excellent strategic fit for Cairn and as an Operator gives us access to a gross prospective resource potential in excess of 1.5 billion barrels."

Enquiries:

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

NOTES TO EDITORS

Cairn Energy PLC (Cairn) is one of Europe's leading independent oil and gas exploration and development companies. Cairn has discovered and developed oil and gas reserves in a variety of locations around the world. The company historically focused its activities in South Asia where it operated for more than 20 years. During this time it discovered, developed and produced oil and gas in Bangladesh and India and made more than 40 significant discoveries. Cairn made a major oil discovery in Rajasthan 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. Cairn's business operations are now focussed on frontier exploration acreage in Morocco, Senegal, Greenland and the Mediterranean along with exploration and pre-development interests in the North Sea. Cairn's headquarters are 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 Q4 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 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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