Cairn India Q2 net falls 33 percent to Rs.2,278 crore

Oil and gas major Cairn India reported a 33 percent fall in net profit for the second quarter ending September on back of lower oil prices and production in results announced Tuesday within days of the government announcing the new price for natural gas.

Net profit in quarter fell to Rs.2,278 crore from Rs.3,385 crore a year ago, Cairn said in a statement.

Revenues dropped 14 percent to Rs.3,982 crore "on account of lower volumes due to planned maintenance shutdown, realizations impacted by the softer global crude prices and higher profit petroleum tranche in Rajasthan", it added.

The company produced 163,262 barrels of oil per day (bpd) from its Rajasthan fields, compared to 175,478 bpd in the same quarter of the last fiscal.

Cairn's Mangala Oil Processing Terminal in Rajasthan was shut down for routine operational and statutory maintenance activity.

"Though the shutdown resulted in lower production at 163,262 barrels per day of oil and oil equivalent gas, it has helped improve plant reliability and strengthen operational safety.

"We are back to normal production levels after the shutdown and excluding the shutdown period, Q2 production was comparable to Q1. We utilised the opportunity presented by the shutdown to create tie-ins for future development projects," Cairn said.

Cairn disbursed the balance $450 million as a part of $1.25 billion loan facility extended to its parent Vedanta Group in the previous quarter.

"Considering that each of our development projects is on track, we are confident of achieving our targeted volume growth of 7-10 percent over the next three years. The continued success of our exploration and appraisal campaign will help achieve targeted 150 percent reserve replacement ratio in the same period," said the company's interim chief executive Sudhir Mathur.

Meanwhile, Cairn India Tuesday appointed Mayank Ashar as the managing director and chief executive officer of the company with effect from Nov 17.