Cairn Energy to begin Moroccan operations shortly

17th Oct 2013 14:26

Cairn Energy, the FTSE 250 oil and gas exploration and development company, on Thursday cheered investors with the news it will shortly begin the first in a series of wells along the Atlantic Margin, operating offshore Morocco. The group said the drilling programme will target 4.0bn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of mean un-risked gross prospective resource within a total 'Yet to Find' potential in excess of 10bn boe. Cairn added that it continued to remain focused on the Atlantic Margin, including Senegal, where the proposed two well exploration programme is expected to begin once operation in Morocco are complete, and Greenland, where a joint venture drilling decision will be taken by the end of 2013 on whether the Pitu prospect will be drilled next year. Simon Thomson, Cairn's Chief Executive, said: "Cairn has built a strategic position along the frontier basins of the Atlantic Margin, including Morocco, Senegal, Ireland, Mauritania and Greenland and is about to commence a 12 month multi-well high impact exploration programme offering shareholders exposure to material growth potential."Cairn continues to follow its policy of maintaining appropriate balance sheet strength as it progresses its exploration and development programmes."The group added that it "remains in a strong financial position", and said it is ready to enter an intense operational period on the exploration front, while progressing with both the Kraken and Catcher development projects, which will become the funding platform of the business once on stream.At the end of September the group held $1.4bn in cash and equivalents. NR