Rajasthan desert continues to be revenue booster for Cairn India Ltd, as the company reported a 17 per cent higher net profit in the fourth quarter of the fiscal ended March 31, 2013.

This also meant higher profits for the Government. The Government’s share of profit from the Rajasthan block (net to the company) was Rs 2,816 crore during the year against Rs 1,566 crore in the previous year.

P. Elango, Whole-Time Director and CEO, Cairn India, said, “The operating environment has substantially improved with key approvals (from the Government) coming in at a faster pace that enabled us to ramp up Mangala production, bring Aishwariya field online, commence gas sales and most importantly re-commence exploration in Rajasthan.”

The current production from Rajasthan is at 175,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and the company hopes to end this financial year at 200,000-215,000 bopd.

Cairn India re-commenced exploration activity in the Rajasthan block in February and oil was discovered in the first exploration well, Raag S-1, in April.

From all its producing assets – Rajasthan, Cambay (West Coast), and Ravva (East cost), the company clocked a gross operated output of 205,323 barrels of oil equivalent per day (of both oil and gas), a 19 per cent increase over the previous year.

This increase in gross production was primarily due to the 32 per cent year-on-year increase in the Rajasthan block production. The average price realisation for the year was $97.6 a barrel of oil equivalent. The crude oil from Rajasthan block realised $98.3/bbl, 10.7 per cent discount to Brent, which traded at $112.05 a barrel in fourth quarter.

Cairn India Board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 6.5 a share, resulting in a total dividend of Rs 11.5 a share for the year, culminating in a total payout of 21.2 per cent (including dividend distribution tax) of profit after tax for the year

richa.mishra@thehindu.co.in

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