Cairn India, Halliburton join to explore shale in India

Cairn India, Halliburton join to explore shale in India

Mumbai, 17 November (Argus) — Indian private-sector firm Vedanta's Cairn Oil and Gas and US-based oil field services firm Halliburton have entered into a partnership to begin shale exploration in Rajasthan and increase Cairn's recoverable reserves from its offshore assets.

The agreement came about on the sidelines of the Adipec 2021 conference in Abu Dhabi, and comes just about a month and a half after Vedanta Resources' executive chairman Anil Agarwal said that Cairn would contribute 50pc of the country's total crude production within 2-3 years to reduce oil prices.

The two companies aim to increase Cairn's recoverable reserves from offshore assets to 300mn bl of oil equivalent (boe) from the current 30mn boe, and commence shale exploration in the Lower Barmer Hill (LBH) formation of western Rajasthan, according to a joint statement.