The Government of India (GOI) has announced that Cairn has been awarded five new exploration blocks in India. The blocks were awarded to Cairn and its joint venture partners under the fifth New Exploration Licensing Policy round (NELP V).
There was an unprecedented level of international interest for this latest round of licences. In competitive bidding there were a total of 69 bids for 20 exploration blocks with bids from 26 foreign companies including Cairn.
Cairn has been awarded five onshore and offshore blocks, including two new areas in Rajasthan. The blocks are as follows:
RJ-ONN-2003/1 Onshore Western Rajasthan, Rajasthan Basin
Cairn (30%), ONGC (36%) and ENI (34%, operator)
VN-ONN-2003/1 Onshore Eastern Rajasthan, Vindhyan Basin
Cairn (49%, operator) and ONGC (51%)
KG-ONN-2003/1 Onshore Andhra-Pradesh, Krishna-Godavari Basin
Cairn (49%, operator) and ONGC (51%)
GV-ONN-2003/1 Onshore Uttar Pradesh, Ganga Valley Basin
Cairn (49%, operator) and ONGC (51%)
GS-OSN-2003/1 Offshore Gujarat, Saurashtra Basin
Cairn (49%) and ONGC (51%, operator)
Bidding for the blocks closed on 31st May 2005. The GOI has indicated, subject to finalisation of contracts, that the signing of the Production Sharing Contracts will take place by 2nd October 2005, enabling initial work to commence in 2006.