ThisIsMoney.co.uk: Cairn may strike new oil finds: "Cairn was set up by Sir Bill in the 1980s and was transformed in 2004 by a string of oil discoveries at a site in Rajasthan that it bought from Shell, catapulting it into the the FTSE 100 Index. It now has a market value of around £3.15bn after seeing its shares almost double in value over the last year.": Posted 19 Jan 2006

This is Money
17 January 2006

OIL and gas explorer Cairn Energy indicated today that more oil may be in place at its key Indian fields than previously thought.

The Edinburgh-based firm told investors current estimates for its three fields in the province of Rajasthan were expected to be increased, with results due in March.

It came as the firm revealed production rose to an average of 28,300 barrels of oil a day during 2005, from 22,789 barrels the previous year.

Chief executive Sir Bill Gammell said in an update ahead of full-year results: 'Cairn continues to build on the world class Rajasthan discoveries and I remain confident that the oil and gas resource base will grow through further explorations and appraisal.'

Cairn said the two main northern Rajasthan fields of Bhagyam and Mangala were expected to have more oil in place than the current estimates of 377m barrels and 1.07bn barrels respectively.

The group, which operates in Bangladesh and Nepal as well as India, also said it expected to produce the first oil from its southern Rajasthan fields in April 2006. It aims to be producing around 2,000 barrels a day from Saraswati and Raageshwari by the end of the year.

However, Cairn added that the 'substantial impact' of recent hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico on local oil and gas infrastructure had affected the cost and availability of equipment and services globally.

It said it was assessing the effects of these changes on its project cost and schedule estimates.