Abu Dhabi, 16 November 2021.

Cairn Oil & Gas, India’s largest private oil and gas exploration and production company, has entered into an agreement with Halliburton Offshore Services Inc to begin shale exploration in Rajasthan. This partnership was confirmed at the ongoing ADIPEC 2021–one of the largest conglomerations of the oil and gas sector –currently being held at Abu Dhabi. Founded in 1919, Halliburton is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the energy industry. Under this new agreement,Cairn will partner with Halliburton to commence shale exploration targeting the Lower Barmer Hill (LBH) formation of western Rajasthan. This announcement follows Cairn’s commitment of doubling its capacities, and assisting the country in its goal of achieving energy aatmanirbharta.

Speaking on the development, Prachur Sah, CEO, Cairn Oil & Gas, said, “To achieve energy sufficiency, India must improve upstream exploration, augment technology for brown fields and encourage unconventional energy resources such as shale. With this partnership, we are combining the best of global technology with the promise of new-age exploration of unconventional fuels. The exploration and production of shale has revolutionized USA’s energy landscape and for India too, the fuel can be a game-changer. Cairn has always expressed firm faith in India’s hydrocarbon potential, and this partnership is another step towards our goal of increasing production capacities to 500 kboepd.”

Cairn and Halliburton will develop pilot drills to explore the potential of shale in the Barmer basin. The current shale potential here stands at 3 bn barrels and with this partnership, Cairn wants to establish a reserve of 300 mmboe. Earlier this year, Cairn had also announced the beginning of tight oil production from the neighbouring Aishwarya Barmer Hill (ABH) site. India is yet to commercially produce shale and this association will be a significant step towards that end.

Cairn has been pioneering mplementation of latest technology in partnership with global technological giants in its fields across the country. The Mangala field in Rajasthan is home to a full-field Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) polymer project that is among the largest of its kind in the world. Also, a large Alkaline Surfactant Polymer (ASP) project is currently under design to be executed in the next few years. The field also marks the starting point of the Mangala pipeline – the world’s longest continuously heated and insulated pipeline that carries crude from the fields of Rajasthan to the refineries of Gujarat. The Ravva field, one of India’s largest offshore assets, is an example of excellent reservoir management and adoption of state-of-the-art technologies which has resulted in achieving recovery factor of more than 50%. This new partnership is another step in Cairn’s endeavour to achieve energy autonomy for India.