Cairn renews exploration focus; eyes global ops for growth

A nomination committee along with the Cairn India board will shortly announce Rahul Dhir’s successor, reports CNVC-TV18’s Nayantara Rai.

In a surprising move, Rahul Dhir, Cairn India's chief executive officer, had stepped down last week. Dhir had led Cairn India since its inception in 2006. Meanwhile, the company believes it has a very significant management depth to carry on with business. In a detailed exchange with CNBC-TV18, Cairn India said that it has now renewed its focus as far as exploration goes. It also has what it is calling a new venture's team, which is tasked with finding the global opportunities for Cairn India. These global opportunities can be in the form of farm-ins as well as acquisitions of new acreages. Also, the company will be focusing on resuming exploration activities at its prolific Rajasthan basin along with ONGC, its joint venture partner. Cairn believes the resumption of exploration activities is very important, and so there will be a production ramp up for another 3-5 years. Furthermore, it is planning a capex of USD 2 billion till the end of FY14, of which USD 1.4 billion is for new exploration as well as global acquisitions and new global opportunities. The balance USD 600 million is for the Rajasthan basin.