DGH rejects Cairn India’s Barmer restoration plea

A DGH official told FE that the restoration of the block was denied as the production sharing contract (PSC) that Cairn India signed with the government did not permit the restoration of the acreage.

The PSC states that the exploration period of seven years ended on May 2002. Any acreage that has not been explored or appraised within that timeline has to be returned to the government. The relinquished acreage can subsequently be auctioned by the government in future NELP rounds.

In a letter to the oil ministry dated April 5,2013,Cairn India chief executive P Elango sought the restoration of 11,108 sq km block that it originally held when the PSC was signed with the government in 1997.

“As the company has technical and scientific knowledge over the relinquished area,this would enhance the chances of exploration success,” Elango said in the letter.

To date,Cairn India’s 26 discoveries in the block put its in-place reserves at around 7.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent. The Mangala,Bhagyam and Aishwarya fields constitute Cairn India’s main assets in Rajasthan. The company has given a guidance for exiting FY14 at production levels of 200,000-215,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd),against current production levels of 175,000 bpd.

The block was initially held by Royal Dutch Shell in 1995. Cairn subsequently bought the block.

Cairn India has also approached the oil ministry for a fast-track clearance of its R5,000-crore integrated block development plan (IBDP) at its existing Barmer block spread over 2013-16. The government does not give blanket investment approvals until the discovery has been

established as a commercially viable one.

The company claims that the IBDP can reduce the lead time between discovery and production from 36 months to 18 months and enhance production of hydrocarbons in the country.

For the 2012-13,Cairn India’s revenues grew 48% year on year to Rs.17,524.15 crore,and net profit rose 52% to Rs.12,056 crore. Cairn India’s stock has lost 11.33% in 2013 so far against a 1.43% gain seen in the benchmark BSE Sensex. The market cap of the company as on May 24 stood at Rs 54,032 crore.

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Access denied

* Cairn India requested DGH to restore 8,000 sq km of area it relinquished about a decade ago in Barmer,Rajasthan

* Request was denied as the production-sharing contract (PSC) did not permit the restoration of the acreage

* PSC states that exploration period ended in May 2002. Any acreage that hasn’t been explored has to be returned

* Co has also sought a fast-track clearance of its R5,000-cr IBDP at its existing Barmer block spread over 2013-16