Cairn drills duster after 2 successful wells in Sri Lanka

Reporting its Q3 financial results on Tuesday, Cairn India reported that Cairn Lanka successfully completed the first phase of its exploration campaign in Sri Lanka in Block SL-2007- 01-001. The exploration programme involved the acquisition, processing and interpretation of 1,753 sq km of 3D seismic data and the drilling of three well deep water wells. This resulted in two successive gas and condensate discoveries: theCLPL-Dorado- 91H/1z well and, the CLPL-Barracuda-1G/1well. The third well, CLPL-Dorado North 1- 82K/1 was plugged and abandoned as a dry hole on 14th December, 2011.

To view more documents from Cairn Energy use the free Derrick ‘DocSearch’ search tool at the link below:

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Essar Oil doubles gas reserves at Raniganj block; Share price increases by 13%

Essar Oil, the largest acreage holder of CBM blocks in India, has reported that the proven and probable reserves and best estimate 2C contingent gas resources at its Raniganj CBM block in West Bengal have been significantly increased. The total proven and probable reserves at Raniganj, evaluated as at 1 September 2011, are 113 bcf gross, while best estimate contingent resources are 445 bcf gross.

Consequently, Essar’s share price on Jan 23 was GBX 135.6, up by 13.1%.

Also, gas is in short supply in India but will be an increasingly important fuel and through this revised estimation of reserves Essar is well placed to capitalise on that.

Click this to browse through Essar’s reports and presentations-

http://docsearch.derrickpetroleum.com/search/company/754/document/4/

Vedanta acquires 10.4% stake in Cairn India from Petronas for $1.5 billion! Indian upstream sector - Magnetising the foreign players.

Vedanta Resources Plc announced the acquisition of a 10.4 % stake in Cairn India Limited by Sesa Goa (a subsidiary of Vedanta) from Petronas. Sesa Goa acquired 200 million shares amounting to a 10.4 % stake in Cairn India from Petronas at Rs 331 (US$7.48), a 1.6% discount to Cairn India's closing prices on Monday. Petronas sold its entire 14.9% stake in Cairn India with domestic and foreign institutions buying the rest.

Cairn India produces about 125,000 barrels a day of oil from the Mangala field in the Rajasthan block. Cairn India may start the Bhagyam field in Rajasthan in the second half of 2011 and reach peak output of 40,000 barrels a day by the end of the year.

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Vedanta keen on Cairn!!

Vedanta, in August 2010, had proposed to buy up to 51% stake in Cairn India from Cairn Energy for as much as ~$8.8 billion. As announced on 13 December 2010, Vedanta received shareholder approval for the purchase of a 51%-60% interest in Cairn India. The transaction is yet to receive the Indian government's approval, due to a dispute in royalty payments.

Subsequent to the deal to buy Cairn India at Rs 405 a share, Vedanta announced an open offer to buy an additional 20% stake at Rs 355 a piece. The Rs 405 a share price that Vedanta is paying to Cairn Energy, includes a Rs 50 per share non-compete fee, which is not being paid to minority shareholders.

Vedanta is now in quite comfortable position even if the response to the open offer is moderate.

Indian Upstream Sector- A Magnetiser!!

2011- A big year for Indian Upstream sector.. This year is marked with two significant transactions

- BG's $7.2 billion alliance with Reliance

- Vedanta's offer to acquire upto 51% stake in Cairn India for ~$8.8 billion.

These deals show the confidence of the foreign players in the Indian oil sector. Many more players to venture into India with the path set by these two deals.

The following slide shows the overview of the Vedanta-Cairn India deal

Source: Global E&P Transactions 2010 Review