Directorate Change

Cairn Energy PLC
20 June 2006


EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE AT 0700                                      20 June 2006

                  Cairn Energy PLC ('Cairn' or 'the Company')

                                Finance Director


Kevin Hart has today given notice of his resignation as Finance Director of
Cairn. It is currently envisaged that the effective date of the resignation will
be at the year end or shortly following an Extraordinary General Meeting of the
Company which will be required to approve the planned Initial Public Offering
(IPO) of its Indian exploration and production business on the Bombay Stock
Exchange, whichever is earlier.


Kevin, aged 37, joined Cairn as Finance Director in 1998 and following his
resignation will assume the position of Chief Executive of Bowleven PLC.


Jann Brown, aged 51 and currently Group Financial Controller at Cairn, will
replace Kevin as Finance Director. Jann has served on the Group Management Board
for seven years, and in addition to her duties as Group Financial Controller she
has the key responsibility of project managing the planned IPO. She holds an MA
from the University of Edinburgh and joined Cairn in 1998 after a career in the
accountancy profession, mainly with KPMG. She is a member of The Institute of
Chartered Accountants of Scotland and The Chartered Institute of Taxation.


-      There are no additional matters which require to be disclosed for the
       purposes of Listing Rule 9.6.13 of the Listing Rules.


-      A further announcement will be made pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.12 when
       the effective date of these board changes is confirmed.


Sir Bill Gammell, Chief Executive said:


'Cairn is very fortunate to be able to promote a high quality individual from
within its team as its future Finance Director. Jann Brown has been a key member
of the senior management team for many years and is a well known and respected
figure, both in the city and the oil industry at large.


Kevin has been an integral member of the Cairn team and we are pleased he will
remain with us until shareholder approval of the planned Indian IPO. I wish him
all success in his future new role.'


Kevin Hart said:


'Working for Cairn during the last eight years has been a fantastic experience
and I look forward to finalising the preparation for the planned Indian IPO. I'm
also delighted that Jann Brown will succeed me.'


Enquiries:-


Cairn Energy PLC:

Analysts/Investors
Bill Gammell, Chief Executive                           Tel: [phone]

Media
David Nisbet, Head of Group Communications              Tel: [phone]

Brunswick Group Limited:
Patrick Handley, Mark Antelme                           Tel: [phone]


Notes to Editors


   •Cairn focuses its activities on the geographic region of South Asia.  The
    Group holds material exploration and production positions in west India,
    east India and Bangladesh along with new exploration rights in India and
    Nepal.


   •This focus on South Asia has already resulted in a significant number of
    oil and gas discoveries.  In particular, the Company made a major oil
    discovery (Mangala) in Rajasthan in the north west of India at the beginning
    of 2004. Cairn has now made 18 discoveries in Rajasthan.


   •In Block RJ-ON-90/1, Cairn operates under a Production Sharing Contract
    (PSC) signed on 15 May 1995. The Development Area (1,858 km2), which
    includes Mangala, Aishawariya, Saraswati and Raageshwari is 70% Cairn with
    ONGC having exercised their back in right for 30%.


   •India currently imports approximately 2,000,000 barrels of oil per day
    (bopd).  It produces approximately 650,000 bopd itself of which 50,000 bopd
    comes from the Cairn operated Ravva field on the east coast of India.


   •Cairn has recently opened a new Indian headquarters at Gurgaon on the
    outskirts of Delhi to provide improved support for the Rajasthan project
    team and to manage the Company's business interests in India.


   •'Cairn' where referred to in this release means Cairn Energy PLC and/or
    its subsidiaries, as appropriate.


           For further information on Cairn see www.cairn-energy.plc.uk


Note: There are matters discussed in this Statement that are forward looking.
All such forward-looking statements are based on our management's assumptions
and beliefs in light of information available to them at this time.  These
forward-looking statements are, by their nature, subject to significant risks
and uncertainties and actual results, performance or achievements may be
materially different from those expressed in such statements.



                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange