Cairn shortlists Lloyd's Register for oil, gas hunt in OALP-1 blocks

Cairn Oil & Gas, a vertical of Vedanta Ltd, has shortlisted Lloyd's Register for exploring and producing oil and gas in the 41 blocks it had won last year in India's maiden open acreage licensing round. In a press statement, the company said Lloyd's Register has been shortlisted for "integrated project management of the 41 blocks it was awarded under Open Acreage Licensing Policy-1 (OALP)."

Lloyd's Register will be responsible for overseeing exploration and production. "The Lloyd's Register Group is one of the world's leading providers of professional services for engineering and technology - improving safety and increasing the performance of critical infrastructures for clients in more than 75 countries worldwide," the statement said. "The shortlisting has followed a rigorous bidding process that saw participation from top global players."

The company said it will invest USD 550 million in OALP and Discovered Small Fields it had bagged in a separate bid round. "The company currently produces close to 190,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas and aims to increase production to 270,000 boepd by the end of this year," it said.

Cairn was awarded 41 out of 55 blocks under the government's OALP I auction process, contracts for which were signed in October 2018. "Cairn is aggressively driving towards exploration in the new blocks and the shortlisting for integrated project management is a significant step in this direction. This will enable speedy exploration management across the 41 blocks simultaneously with an end-to-end plan under stipulated timelines," it said.

The company had also applied for Petroleum Exploration Licenses (PEL) in these blocks early on, and the process of obtaining environmental clearances is ongoing in parallel. The company has received PELs for 11 blocks so far and the rest are in progress, it added.

Cairn Oil & Gas CEO Ajay Kumar Dixit said, "We are planning for a success case scenario and looking ahead for how production management can be adopted at the very nascent stage prior to initiating the exploration activities. This approach, while capital-intensive, is the best way forward to fast-track production and deliver on our vision to contribute to India's energy security."