Cairn plans mid-stream foray

Cairn Energy Plc, the Scottish oil exploration company having the bulk of its assets in India, is now planning an entry into mid-stream and marketing activities for its find of about 3.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent in Rajasthan.

"Cairn and the government of India have started discussions to consider Cairn's involvement in the mid-stream. Cairn views this as a possible opportunity to secure the value of the project and potentially gain further benefit through integration and schedule control," said the company chairman, Norman L Murray.

Interestingly, while the company made this announcement in London, Cairn India Non-Executive Chairman Bill Gammell and Chief Executive Officer Rahul Dhir were closeted with an irked VK Sibal, India's Director General of Hydrocarbons (DGH), in Delhi.

According to the DGH, the Rajasthan find still stands at 1.8 billion barrels of oil equivalent. Any upgrade of reserves cannot be announced without the consent of the DGH.

Cairn Energy Exploration and New Business Director, Michael Watts, however, said "The reserves and resource numbers within this presentation represent the views of Cairn and do not represent the views of any other party, including the Indian government."

(The correspondent's visit to London was sponsored by Cairn)