Cairn expands offshore India acreage, forms partnerships with 2H and TechnipFMC
Cairn Oil & Gas has acquired three shallow-water exploration blocks under India’s Open Acreage Licensing Policy (OALP) Round IX auction.
In total, the private oil and gas E&P company picked up seven new blocks (four are onshore) in the Cambay, Saurashtra and Mumbai hydrocarbon basins. Cairn’s portfolio offshore and onshore India now comprises 69 blocks covering a total of 73,000 sq km.
The company plans to use the new awards to step up exploration for oil and gas in the West Coast. It currently produces oil and gas from the Lakshmi and Gauri fields in the CB/OS-2 Block offshore in the Cambay Basin.
In addition, the company is preparing an appraisal and development exploration campaign in the Ambe shallow-water block (DSF) in the Gulf of Cambay.
Last month Cairn signed a memorandum of understanding and a master service agreement with 2H Offshore (Asia-Pacific) for an offshore development off the West Coast where it is targeting recovery of about 20 MMboe. The project, in the CB-OSDSF-AMBE/2021 area, is said to be the largest new development in India’s offshore "discovered small fields" blocks. The arrangement with 2H Offshore covers integrated delivery of offshore platforms to the field.
Cairn also recently formed an alliance with TechnipFMC concerning provision of subsea infrastructure for future deepwater projects offshore India, using TechnipFMC’s integrated engineering, procurement, construction and installation (iEPCI) execution model. The agreement incorporates use of the integrated FEED (iFEED) process, involving early engagement to optimize project performance of TechnipFMC’s subsea production systems and subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF).
