Highlights:
• Gross Proved Plus Probable (2P) Reserves1 are 310 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe)
• Gross Contingent (2C) Resources1 are 846 MMboe, and Cairn is defining up to 20 potential new development projects to bring these Resources into production
• Total Reserve plus Resource additions exceeded production during the year to 31 March 2023, resulting in a Resource Replacement Ratio2 of 108%
• Cairn’s acreage position is estimated to contain gross unrisked Prospective Resources of over 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (Bboe), and the Company plans to drill up to 20 exploration wells in the next two years targeting 500 MMboe gross unrisked Resources
New Delhi, 27 May 2023: Cairn Oil & Gas (“the Company” or “Cairn”) India’s largest private oil and gas exploration and production Company, and a unit of Vedanta Group, has announced that its Reserves and Resources portfolio has crossed 1.1 Bboe. The Company’s updated hydrocarbon Reserves and Resources estimates are as follows:
(MMboe as at 31 March 2023) Gross Field Net Cairn
Working Interest
2P Reserves 310 204
2C Resources 846 628
Total Reserves plus Resources 1,156 832
The Company’s estimated total gross 2P Reserves plus 2C Resources stand at 1,156 MMboe, of which oil accounts for 85%. The gross hydrocarbons in place across all Cairn’s assets totals approximately 6.7 Bboe of which 1.18 Bboe has been produced to date1. Cairn is defining up to 20 potential new development projects to bring a substantial proportion of the 846 MMboe of gross 2C Resources into production. During the fiscal year ending 31 March 2023, total Reserve plus Resource additions exceeded production, largely due to the award of eight Discovered Small Field (DSF) licenses. This addition resulted in a Resource Replacement Ratio2 of 108%.
Commenting on the business milestone, Nick Walker, CEO of Cairn Oil & Gas said, “Cairn has a world-class Resource base of over 1.1 Bboe gross, and we continued to sustain the business last year, adding more Resources than we produced. We have significant undeveloped Resources and we’re moving at pace to apply the latest technology to define a portfolio of up to 20 new projects. We’ve also a material exploration position in India and are commencing an exciting exploration drilling program aimed at continuing to grow our Resources. Cairn is
committed to increasing India’s domestic oil and gas production, with a vision to contribute
50% of the country’s crude production.”
Cairn has 62 licenses in India, which are estimated to contain over 3 Bboe of gross unrisked Prospective Resources. The Company plans to drill up to 20 exploration wells in the next two years targeting approximately 500 MMboe gross unrisked Prospective Resources.
The Company’s Reserves and Contingent Resources have been audited by DeGolyer and MacNaughton, a third-party independent reserves auditor, with the exception of the Contingent Resources associated with the eight DSF Round III licenses awarded in 2022. Estimates of Reserves and Contingent Resources have been prepared in accordance with the Petroleum Resources Management System (PRMS) approved in March 2007 and revised in June 2018 by the Society of Petroleum Engineers, the World Petroleum Council, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, the Society of Petroleum Evaluation Engineers, the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, the Society of Petrophysicists and Well Log Analysts, and the European Association of Geoscientists & Engineers.
1 As of 31 March 2023
2 As per industry standard the Reserve plus Resource replacement ratio is defined as the ratio of Reserve plus Resource additions to production during the year.