Cairn Wins More Indian Acreage in NELP-VI

--The Government of India (GoI) had offered 55 exploration blocks - the highest ever offering under the NELP process
--165 bids were submitted for 52 blocks with a total of 68 companies bidding
--32 Indian companies and 36 foreign companies took part, with 20 of the foreign firms participating in the Indian bid round for the first time
--Cairn India and Cairn through Capricorn Energy submitted 12 joint venture bids along with ONGC, Videocon, Tata Petrodyne, British Gas and Total.

Details of the two offshore blocks awarded to Cairn India are as follows:

--PR-OSN-2004/1 (Palar Basin) Cairn Energy India Pty Limited 10% (Operator), Cairn India Limited 25%, ONGC 35% and Tata Petrodyne 30%. The block area is 9,400 km2.
--KK-DWN-2004/1 (Kerala Konkan Basin) Cairn India Limited 40%, ONGC 45% (Operator) and Tata Petrodyne 15%. The block area is approximately 12,324km2.

Rahul Dhir, Chief Executive of Cairn India said:

"We're delighted to have secured further important acreage in India to add to our substantial portfolio. The wider Petroleum Industry is now looking keenly at India as a result of the significant discoveries made in recent years by a number of companies including Cairn. The significant industry interest substantiates our belief that India is an extremely attractive place to look for oil and gas."