Cairn shortlists Lloyd's Register for oil, gas hunt in OALP-1 blocks

New Delhi: Cairn Oil & Gas, a vertical of Vedanta Ltd, has shortlisted Lloyd's Register for exploring and producing oil and gas in the 41 blocks it had won last year in India's maiden open acreage licensing round.

In a press statement, the company said Lloyd's Register has been shortlisted for "integrated project management of the 41 blocks it was awarded under Open Acreage Licensing Policy-1 (OALP)."

Lloyd's Register will be responsible for finding as well as producing any hydrocarbon it finds in the blocks. While oil and gas will belong to the Vedanta group firm, Lloyd's Register will get a fixed fee for its efforts.

"The Lloyd's Register Group is one of the world's leading providers of professional services for engineering and technology - improving safety and increasing the performance of critical infrastructures for clients in more than 75 countries worldwide," the statement said. "The shortlisting has followed a rigorous bidding process that saw participation from top global players."

The company said it will invest $550 million in OALP and Discovered Small Fields it had bagged in a separate bid round.

"The company currently produces close to 190,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas and aims to increase production to 270,000 boepd by the end of this year," it said.

Cairn was awarded 41 out of 55 blocks under the government's OALP I auction process, contracts for which were signed in October 2018.