Cairn to sell 10% interest in Catcher development and adjacent acreage in UK North Sea to Dyas UK Limited

Edinburgh, Scotland, 25-9-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Cairn is pleased to announce that it has entered into a farm out agreement for the sale of a 10% interest in the Catcher development and adjacent acreage in the UK North Sea.  With effect from 1 January 2014 Dyas UK Limited (Dyas) shall acquire 10% in each of the following UK Continental Shelf licences P1430, P2040, P2070, P2077 and P2086 by funding Cairn’s exploration and development costs in respect of the licences up to a cap of $182million (m).

Following this transaction Cairn will retain a 20% interest in the Catcher licence and a reduced interest in each of the remaining licences as detailed below.  As a result of this transaction Cairn will reduce its capital expenditure to the end of 2017 in the Catcher area by approximately $380m (inclusive of the carry payment detailed above) to $200m.

Licence P1430 (Catcher) received UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) approval of its Field Development Plan (FDP) in June 2014.  Licences P2040, P2070, P2077 and P2086 are adjacent licences in the Greater Catcher area.

Simon Thomson, Chief Executive, Cairn Energy PLC said:
“Cairn remains focused on delivering value for shareholders from disciplined capital allocation and portfolio management across a balanced asset base. This value enhancing transaction provides us with significant additional operational flexibility to deliver the Group’s strategy.”

The transaction remains subject to DECC, partner and third party approvals.

As a result of the transaction, subject to approvals, the partners in these licences will be as follows:

Licence P1430 (blocks 28/9a and 28/10c)
Premier 50% (operator), Cairn 20%, MOL Group 20%, Dyas 10%

Licence P2070 (block 28/4a)
Premier 54% (operator), Cairn 36%, Dyas 10%

Licence P2077 (block 28/8)
Premier 54% (operator), Cairn 36%, Dyas 10%

Licence P2040 (block 29/11)
Premier 35% (operator), Statoil 25%, Cairn 10%, MOL Group 20%, Dyas 10%

Licence P2086 (block 28/9b and 28/14)
Premier 35% (operator), Cairn 10%, Statoil 25%, MOL Group 20%, Dyas 10%

Note: The gross asset value of the interests being transferred (as per Cairn’s half-yearly report issued on 19 August 2014) was USD $93,860,528.13.

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