Cairn secures rig for Greenla

RNS Number : 4346E

Cairn Energy PLC

21 December 2009

 



EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 0700                                                          21 DECEMBER 2009

CAIRN ENERGY PLC ("Cairn")

Cairn secures rig for Greenland exploration

Cairn is pleased to announce that it has secured a rig to allow it to commence a drilling programme in the Disko West area, offshore Western Greenland, in H2 2010.

A sixth generation dynamically positioned drill ship, the Stena Forth, has been contracted to start operations in the summer drilling season (June-October) on Cairn's Disko West acreage in Greenland subject to all required government approvals.

The Stena Forth is currently under contract to Hess Corporation. Cairn has reached agreement with Hess and Stena Drilling to take an assignment of the Stena Forth for a period of approximately six months.

Sir Bill Gammell, Chief Executive said:

"We are delighted to have secured a rig that allows Cairn to move forward with its Greenland drilling programme in 2010, a year earlier than previously scheduled. We are now equipped to commence drilling with a vessel that offers considerable operational flexibility."

Enquiries to:

Cairn Energy PLC Sir Bill Gammell, Chief Executive Dr Mike Watts, Deputy Chief Executive Jann Brown, Finance Director David Nisbet, Corporate Affairs	Tel: [phone]
Brunswick Group LLP Patrick Handley David Litterick	Tel: [phone]

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• Cairn Energy PLC ("Cairn") is an Edinburgh-based oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the London Stock Exchange. Following the IPO of Cairn India in January 2007, there are two separate parts of the business:

• Cairn India limited ("Cairn India") is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and has interests in a total of 13 acreage blocks in India and Sri Lanka. Cairn now retains a 62.39 % interest in Cairn India.

• Capricorn Oil Limited ("Capricorn"), a subsidiary of Cairn is focused on exploration. Capricorn now has assets in Bangladesh, Nepal, Northern India, Greenland, Tunisia, Albania, and pending licence awards in Spain.

• "Cairn" where referred to in this release means Cairn Energy PLC and/or its subsidiaries (including Cairn India and Capricorn), as appropriate. 

• "Cairn India" where referred to in the release means Cairn India Limited and/or its subsidiaries, as appropriate. 

• "Capricorn" where referred to in this release means Capricorn Oil Limited and/or its subsidiaries as appropriate.

• Government of Greenland approval for drilling is subject to required environmental and social impact assessments, public consultation and compliance with all appropriate regulatory requirements.

• Cairn through its subsidiary Capricorn operates six blocks in Greenland. It also has non operated interests in two other blocks.

• Cairn has focused its activities on the geographic region of South Asia, which has already resulted in a significant number of oil and gas discoveries.  In particular, Cairn made a major oil discovery (Mangala) in Rajasthan in the north west of India at the beginning of 2004. Cairn has now made more than 20 discoveries in Rajasthan block RJ-ON-90/1. 

• Cairn India is headquartered in Gurgaon on the outskirts of Delhi, with operational offices in Chennai, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan. 

• Cairn Energy PLC (including Capricorn) is run from Edinburgh with operational offices in Dhaka, Chittagong, Tunis and Kathmandu.

For further information on Cairn see www.cairnenergy.com

 

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