Cairn starts Bhagyam oil field development in Rajasthan
19 May 2011
Cairn India Ltd (CAIR), the Indian affiliate of Scottish energy producer Cairn Energy Plc had started developing the Bhagyam oil field in Rajasthan.
Cairn Energy Plc said in a statement today that production from Bhagyam was expected to start in the second half of 2011 and might reach 40,000 barrels a day by the end of the year. It added thirty wells had been drilled in the field.
Cairn said construction of the fourth unit at the Mangala crude processing plant had started and was expected to be ready in the second half of this year. It said gross revenue from the Mangala field exceeded $3 billion but did not give any time frame.
It added it would start exploration drilling in a block in Sri Lanka in August, according to the statement.
Vedanta Resources Plc has proposed to buy CAIR.
Cairn said the sale of a 40-per cent stake in Cairn India by the parent was awaiting the Indian government's approval and said it agreed with Vedanta to extend the closing date of the sale and purchase agreement in order to secure the approvals to complete the transaction.
The deadline for the deal was Friday. The deal deadline has already been extended once.
The deal, struck last August, is awaiting approval of the Indian government. The decision would be taken by a key ministerial panel, once they agreed on a date to hold a meeting.
