Cairn Oil & Gas, part of Vedanta Group, is aiming to increase hydrocarbon output to 300,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the near future, from current level of 103,200 boepd, with drilling set to begin in a number of projects this year. The company has laid out an investment plan of $3-4 billion for its exploration and production activities over five years, Chief Financial Officer Hitesh Vaid told Arunima Bharadwaj in an interview. To achieve the target, the company is also seeking joint ventures and partnerships in tight oil development, shale monetisation, deepwater drilling and exploration in North East.
Cairn aims to increase its production and account for 50% of India’s oil and gas production. What are the strategic initiatives to achieve the target?
We aim to scale up our crude production to meet 50% of India’s domestic requirement across our portfolio of 69 blocks spread across an acreage of 73,000 sq. km. Our aim is to increase output to 300,000 bpd in the near future, driven by ASP (Alkaline-Surfactant-Polymer) expansion in Rajasthan, shale gas monetisation, deepwater discoveries, North East developments, tight oil fields in Rajasthan, and shallow water exploration.
We are partnering with global oil and gas companies, service and rig providers to adopt advanced technologies and enhance production.
What are the new areas/blocks which are expected to start production this year?
With the partnership with Parker Wellbore, we deployed a 2000HP drilling rig in Barmer, Rajasthan to support our shale exploration plans to drill 3–6 shale wells in Q2FY26, with a $100 million investment.
Following our largest commercial ASP injection in India last year, we will now be implementing full-scale ASP implementation across Rajasthan blocks, which will add 300 million barrels of recoverable oil over time. Initial injections in Mangala well pads have shown positive results. A larger $200 million project will commence in the second quarter of FY26.
We partnered with Electromagnetic Geoservices (EMGS), to acquire a 3D Controlled Source Electro-magnetic (CSEM) survey for our exploration campaign in the deepwater Krishna-Godavari basin in the East Coast. We have on-boarded Worley as an EPCM (Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management) partner and TechnipFMC for integrated deep-sea services to enhance deepwater drilling.
The company has over 4,500 sq. km. of offshore deepwater block in the KG basin, with water depths ranging from 500 meters to 2,500 meters. The goal is to begin drilling in 2026 in 3,600 sq. km. area and establish a new frontier for deepwater development. An onshore drilling project has begun at Jaya in Gujarat.
Are there any other collaborations the company is seeking?
In addition to the partners recently onboarded, we are actively seeking more Joint Venture partnerships to increase oil production in India to 300,000 barrels per day in the near term.
We will be further roping in partners for growth projects such as – ASP injection, tight oil development, shale monetisation, satellite fields, deepwater drilling and North East exploration in the near future. The company is also looking to work with EPCM companies for end-to-end integration.
With the acquisition of 7 new blocks under the latest OALP-IX (open acreage) round, how much does Cairn plan to invest in exploration and development activities?
The acquisition of 7 new blocks, 4 onshore and 3 shallow water, in the hydrocarbon basins of Cambay, Saurashtra, and Mumbai will strengthen our presence on the West Coast, which we see as a critical growth corridor. We plan to invest ~$3-4 billion over the next 3–5 years in E&P activities across India.
These blocks are closer to our existing Cambay operations and will help us expand our exploration campaign on the West Coast.
How does the company plan to arrest decline of mature fields?
Fostering global partnerships and adopting advanced technologies are two important pillars to arrest the decline. We have a definite road map and a capex plan.
The company is scaling up Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) technologies, such as ASP flooding to increase recovery rates from fields Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya.
Tight oil discoveries have a substantial potential in the Rajasthan block. We are working on increasing recovery from these fields by using techniques from across the globe. This will utilise existing surface infrastructure to reduce lead time and cost. We are commencing shale drilling targeting gas prospects from Q2 2025 onwards. In the North East, we have recently discovered oil. Our focus is to drill additional wells and put them into production.
In the deepwater East Coast (KG Basin) we have a large gas prospect. We have completed the CSEM survey and intend to drill exploration wells in the next 12 months.
Additionally, the company is using digital initiatives like predictive analytics, data driven reservoir management, and real-time monitoring to reduce operational risks and improve decision-making across the asset lifecycle.