Cairn India net up 18 pc in Q4

Cairn India Ltd, operator of the nation's biggest onland oilfield, today reported a 18 per cent rise in fourth-quarter profit on record oil production from its showpiece Rajasthan fields.
Net profit in the January-March quarter rose to Rs 3,035 crore, or Rs 15.85 per share, from Rs 2,564 crore, or Rs 13.41 a share, a year ago, the company said in a statement here. Sales climbed 16 per cent to Rs 5,049 crore.
Cairn, which last year resumed exploration for oil in the Barmer basin block after a four year hiatus, said 6 finds in past 12-months have added 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in-place reserves to the existing 4.2 billion barrel.

It produced an average of 224,429 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day in January-March quarter from Rajasthan and two other smaller blocks, up 11 per cent from last year.
Oil production from its Rajasthan rose 12 per cent to an average of 189,304 barrels per day in the fourth quarter.
The firm exited the fiscal with an output of 200,000 barrel of oil equivalent a day and has forecast a flat growth in current fiscal as Mangala, the largest of 31 oil and gas discoveries in Rajasthan, hits a natural decline stage and the company begins world's largest enhanced oil recovery program of USD 550 million to maintain output.

The firm, controlled by billionaire Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Resources plc, earned Rs 4070.1 crore as income from sources other than its main business, 86 per cent more than a year earlier.

It had Rs 13,707 crore in cash and equivalent investment in rupee funds and USD 1.53 billion in dollar funds as of March 31, part of which is expected to be used for share buy-back and dividends.
Cairn declared a final dividend of Rs 6.50 per share, entailing an outflow of Rs 1,451 crore including dividend distribution tax.
For the full 2013-14 fiscal, net profit rose 4.3 per cent to Rs 12,431.79 crore. Sales increased to Rs 18,761.70 crore from Rs 17,524.15 crore in 2012-13.

"Our performance over the last fiscal reflects of our unique position of delivering industry-leading production growth, which has contributed to reduction in imports and has also benefited all stakeholders," Cairn CEO Elango P said.
In Rajasthan, Cairn achieved a landmark cumulative oil production of 200 million barrels.
"We have also significantly added to our resource base by delivering a rapid exploration and appraisal drilling programme with a success ratio of 50 per cent, establishing six discoveries and adding over 1 billion barrels of oil and gas in-place," he said.
Since resumption of exploration in March 2013, Cairn said it has added over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in-place reserves to the existing 4.2 billion barrels.

"Of the 17 exploration wells drilled to date, over 80 per cent have shown hydrocarbons. Till date, six discoveries have been established and the testing of the other hydrocarbon bearing wells is under way," the statement said.