Court rejects export of Barmer basin crude

Oct. 18, 2016
Efforts by Cairn India Ltd. to export crude oil produced in the Barmer basin of Rajasthan have been rejected by the New Delhi high court.

Efforts by Cairn India Ltd. to export crude oil produced in the Barmer basin of Rajasthan have been rejected by the New Delhi high court.

Because state-owned companies are not buying all the production it produces in Rajasthan, the Vedanta Group company must sell to privately held Reliance Industries Ltd. and Essar Oil Ltd. at prices it says are 10-20% below international levels.

The Indian government opposes crude exports, arguing the country is not self-sufficient in oil.

Cairn India operates the Barmer basin fields under a production-sharing contract in which it holds a 70% interest with state-owned Oil & Natural Gas Corp. holding the remainder.

In court, the government argued the PSC doesn’t provide for sales abroad.

Production recently was about 200,000 b/d from Mangala, Bhagyam, and Aishwariya fields.