Capricorn Energy

Last updated

Capricorn Energy plc
Company type Public limited company
LSE:  CNE
Industry Oil and gas
Founded1981
Headquarters Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
Key people
Craig van Der Laan (Chair)
Randy Neely (CEO)
ProductsPetroleum, natural gas and other petrochemicals
RevenueDecrease2.svg $201.0 million (2023) [1]
Increase2.svg $(87.4) million (2023) [1]
Decrease2.svg $(144.0) million (2023) [1]
Website www.capricornenergy.com

Capricorn Energy plc (formerly Cairn Energy plc) is a British oil and gas exploration and development company based in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Contents

The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

History

The company was founded in 1981 by Sir Bill Gammell, the former international Rugby player, his father James (Jimmy), his brother Pete and others, as Cairn Energy. Its initial operations were in the USA and, following its listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1988, it expanded into the UK North Sea and internationally (Papua New Guinea, Spain, Vietnam, China and Australia). The company acquired Conoco's UK onshore acreage in 1988 and became one of the largest operators of UK onshore oil production with the Palmers Wood oil field just south of London, near Junction 6 of the M25, [2] and at Humbly Grove (near Basingstoke). [3]

The company expansion started with a substantial (non-operated) gas discovery (East Cameron 331) Bangladesh near Chittagong, in 1996. [4] In parallel, the company launched a series of takeovers of public listed companies – Teredo Petroleum in 1994, [5] Holland Sea Search NV in 1995 [6] and Command Petroleum in 1996. [7]

In 1996, the company farmed out a 25% interest in the Sangu field to Halliburton in return for Halliburton bearing a 50% share of the development costs. [8] In 1997, it sold half of all its Bangladeshi interests to Royal Dutch Shell in return for Shell assuming a $330 million carry of the company's exploration and development costs. [9] This agreement gave the company an interest in Shell's huge acreage position in Rajasthan onshore in North West India. The company drilled two unsuccessful exploration wells and Shell then sold its 50% share to the company for $7.5 million: the company's third well, now 100% owned, found the Mangala oil field. [10] [11]

Capricorn Energy offices in Lothian Road, Edinburgh 50 Lothian Road, Edinburgh.jpg
Capricorn Energy offices in Lothian Road, Edinburgh

In December 2010, the company agreed to sell a stake of 58.5% of Cairn India, its India-focused subsidiary, to Vedanta Resources for $8.67 billion. [12] Talks between the two companies started in August 2010. [13] However, approval did not come from the Indian government until September 2011 and the deal had to be restructured. [14]

The company sold an additional 3.5 per cent of its shares in its Cairn India for about US$360 million in June 2012. [15] In March 2014, the company announced that Bill Gammell would step down as chairman after the annual general meeting on 15 May 2014. [16]

The company changed its name from Cairn Energy to Capricorn Energy on 13 December 2021. [17]

Operations

The company holds a portfolio of exploration, development and production assets, currently with interests in the following countries; the UK, Israel, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Mexico and Suriname. [18]

Dispute

In 2006-2007, after Cairn UK transferred shares of Cairn India Holdings to its Indian counterpart Cairn India, it refused to pay capital gains tax in India. In response, the Indian government in 2012 made any capital gains resulting for the transfer of shares from a foreign entity whose assets were located in Indian taxable from 1962 retrospectively. [19]

In December 2020, the Permanent court of Arbitration at the Hague, awarded Cairn Energy $1.7bn in costs and damages, and in July 2021, a French court ordered a freeze on Indian Government properties in Paris and gave Cairn Energy the right to seize aircraft belonging to Air India. [20]

Related Research Articles

Vedanta Limited is an Indian multinational mining company headquartered in Mumbai, with its main operations in iron ore, gold and aluminium mines in Goa, Karnataka, Rajasthan and Odisha.

Sir William Benjamin Bowring Gammell FRSE is a Scottish businessman and former Scotland international rugby union player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corrib gas project</span> Irish offshore natural gas field

The Corrib gas project is a developed natural gas deposit located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 83 kilometres (52 mi) off the northwest coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The project includes a natural gas pipeline and an onshore gas processing plant, which commenced gas production in 2015. During its development, the project attracted considerable opposition.

Oil India Limited (OIL) is a central public sector undertaking engaged in the business of exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas, transportation of crude oil and production of liquid petroleum gas. The central public sector undertaking is a Maharatna, with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas overseeing its operations. Headquartered in Duliajan, Assam, the company has its offices in Duliajan, Noida, Guwahati and Jodhpur.

Premier Oil plc was an independent UK oil company with gas and oil interests in the United Kingdom, Asia, Africa and Mexico. It was devoted entirely to the 'upstream' sector of the industry — the exploitation of oil and gas — as opposed to the 'downstream' refining and retail sector. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Chrysaor Holdings and then merged into Harbour Energy in March 2021.

Vedanta Resources Limited is a diversified mining company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the largest mining and non-ferrous metals company in India and has mining operations in Australia and Zambia and oil and gas operations in three countries. Its main products are Zinc, Lead, Silver, Oil & Gas, Iron Ore, Steel, Aluminium and Power. It has also developed commercial power stations in India in Odisha and Punjab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil and Natural Gas Corporation</span> Central Public Sector Undertaking

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC) is an Indian central public sector undertaking under the ownership of Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. The company is headquartered in Delhi. ONGC was founded on 14 August 1956 by the Government of India. It is the largest government-owned-oil and gas explorer and producer in the country and produces around 70 percent of India's domestic production of crude oil and around 84 percent of natural gas. ONGC is vertically integrated across the entire oil and gas industry. In November 2010, the Government of India conferred the Maharatna status to ONGC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bharat Petroleum</span> Indian central public sector undertaking

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) is an Indian public sector undertaking (PSU) under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. It operates three refineries in Bina, Kochi and Mumbai. BPCL is India's second-largest government-owned downstream oil producer, whose operations are overseen by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. BPCL was ranked 309th on the Fortune list of the world's biggest PSUs in 2020, and 792nd on Forbes's "Global 2000" list in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">QatarEnergy</span> Qatari state-owned oil company

QatarEnergy, formerly Qatar Petroleum (QP), is a state owned petroleum company of Qatar. The company operates all oil and gas activities in Qatar, including exploration, production, refining, transport, and storage. The President & CEO is Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs. The company's operations are directly linked with state planning agencies, regulatory authorities, and policy making bodies. Together, revenues from oil and natural gas amount to 60% of the country's GDP. As of 2018 it was the third largest oil company in the world by oil and gas reserves. In 2022, the company had total revenues of US$52bn, a net income of US42.4bn, and total assets of US$162bn. In 2021, QatarEnergy was the fifth largest gas company in the world.

The Mangala Area, located in Block RJ-ON-90-1, is a major oil field located in the Indian State of Rajasthan. The Mangala area consists of over 16 separate oil and gas fields of which the majority of the reserves are located in the three fields of Mangala, Bhagyam and Aishwariya. The Mangala Area sits in Barmer Basin and is thought to contain oil in place volumes of 3.6 billion barrels (570,000,000 m3), of which 1 billion barrels (160,000,000 m3) are thought to be recoverable. Cairn India is the operator of the field, a subsidiary of Vedanta Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oil and gas industry in the United Kingdom</span>

The oil and gas industry plays a central role in the economy of the United Kingdom. Oil and gas account for more than three-quarters of the UK's total primary energy needs. Oil provides 97 per cent of the fuel for transport, and gas is a key fuel for heating and electricity generation. Transport, heating and electricity each account for about one-third of the UK's primary energy needs. Oil and gas are also major feedstocks for the petrochemicals industries producing pharmaceuticals, plastics, cosmetics and domestic appliances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roc Oil Company</span>

Roc Oil Company Limited is a petroleum company based in Sydney, Australia. It was established in 1997 as a privately owned company by John Doran. In 1999, the company was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, and in 2004, was listed on the Alternative Investment Market in London, becoming a dual listed company. In 2008, Roc Oil merged with Anzon Australia, and in 2014 it was acquired by Fosun International.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Essar Energy</span> Indian Energy Company

Essar Energy plc is Mauritius-based Indian energy company with assets in the power and oil and gas businesses. Headquartered in Port Louis, Mauritius and subsidiary of Essar Group, the firm has interests in both the power generation and petroleum industries. In May 2014 the company was acquired by its majority shareholder, Essar Global Fund Limited.

Sigguk Block is an oil exploration block in Baffin Bay. It is located 175 kilometres (109 mi) west of Disko Island, Greenland. The block consists of Alpha, T4, and T8 prospects. The license to explore the block belongs to Cairn Energy's subsidiary Capricorn Greenland Exploration Limited. In October 2009 Cairn Energy sold a 20% stake of its rights to Petronas. The national oil company of Greenland NUNAOIL owns 12.5% interest. The license expired on 31 December 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cairn India</span> Indian oil and gas exploration and production company

Cairn India was an Indian oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in Gurgaon, India. The company was merged with Vedanta Limited.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosmos Energy</span> American oil and gas company

Kosmos Energy is an American upstream oil company founded and based in Dallas, Texas. While previously incorporated in Bermuda, Kosmos has reincorporated in Delaware. The company holds production and development operations offshore Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, and Gulf of Mexico, while holding a development project offshore Mauritania and Senegal, and exploration licenses offshore Namibia, São Tomé and Príncipe and Suriname. It was previously involved in exploration offshore Morocco and Western Sahara. It discovered the Jubilee oil field off the coast of Ghana and the cross-border Tortue gas field offshore Mauritania and Senegal. Kosmos was the focus of a documentary Big Men that followed the company as it worked to establish the Jubilee oil field in Ghana.

Bangladesh is the sixteenth-largest producer of natural gas in Asia. Gas supplies meet 56% of domestic energy demand. However, the country faces an acute energy crisis in meeting the demands of its vast and growing population. Bangladesh is a net importer of crude oil and petroleum products. The energy sector is dominated by state-owned companies, including Petrobangla and the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation. Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Equinor, Gazprom and ONGC are major international companies engaged in Bangladesh's hydrocarbon industry, with Chevron's gas fields accounting for 50% of natural gas production.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indian Oil Corporation</span> Central Public Sector Undertaking

Indian Oil Corporation Limited is an Indian oil and gas company under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India. Headquartered in New Delhi, it is a public sector undertaking whose operations are overseen by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Indian Oil is ranked 94th on the Fortune Global 500 list of the world's biggest corporations as of 2022. It is the largest government owned oil producer in the country both in terms of capacity and revenue. It has consolidated refining capacity of 80.55MMTPA which it intends to increase to 107MMTPA by 2024-25. As of 31 March 2021, Indian Oil's employee strength is 31,648, out of which 17,762 are executives and 13,876 non-executives, while 2,776 are women, comprising 8.77% of the total workforce.

Sangu Gas Field is a natural gas field in Bangladesh. It is the only offshore gas field in Bangladesh that is currently abandoned. This gas field was discovered in 1996 in the Bay of Bengal 50 km away from the land near Silimpur, Chittagong. Santos, an Australian multinational company was in charge of operation of the gas field. Its production was closed in 2014. To store the imported LNG, the government of Bangladesh is planning to convert the offshore gas field into an underground storage, where 487.91 billion cubic feet of gas can be stored. Currently in Bangladesh, there are 22 onshore blocks and 26 offshore blocks. Among these offshore blocks, 11 are shallow blocks, where the other 15 are deep sea blocks.

The Cairn EnergyandGovernment of Indiadispute is mainly an ongoing tax and investment dispute which has its origins in 2005–2006. The case is closely linked to Cairn's partner in India, Vedanta, and to concepts such Ex post facto law in the form of retrospective taxation, bilateral investment treaties, and international arbitration between private and sovereign states.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Preliminary Results 2023" (PDF). Capricorn Energy. Retrieved 28 March 2024.
  2. ↑ Onshore Oil and Gas Discoveries 1983–2000 National Archives
  3. ↑ "Production of oil from a single well". East Hampshire Council. Retrieved 16 April 2017.
  4. ↑ Conclusion of successful Sangu drilling programme PR Newswire, 1996
  5. ↑ Michael Seymour: Biography FT.com
  6. ↑ Presentation to The Scottish Oil Club by Dr. Mike Watts of Cairn Energy titled "Building a Business in South Asia" Archived 11 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine Scottish Oil Club, November 2004
  7. ↑ "Oil and Gas – Cairn lifted by Command takeover". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  8. ↑ Alliance to produce gas off Bangladesh Oil & Gas Journal, 5 August 1996
  9. ↑ Shell joins Cairn Energy in natural gas projects in Bangladesh, India Journal Record, 1 May 1997
  10. ↑ "Cairn strikes it rich on land Shell sold". The Guardian. 20 January 2004. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
  11. ↑ Cairn's oil find in Mangala to reduce India's import bill Financial Express, 14 November 2008
  12. ↑ "Vedanta Shareholders approve deal with Cairn - Economic Times". Indiatimes . New Delhi. 14 December 2010. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  13. ↑ "Vedanta agrees to buy Cairn India stake". Upstream Online . NHST Media Group. 16 August 2010. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  14. ↑ Lamont, James (14 September 2011). "Cairn progresses in sale of $6.5bn stake - FT.com". Financial Times . New Delhi. Retrieved 29 September 2012.
  15. ↑ "Cairn Energy sells 3.5% India arm stake". 29 June 2012.
  16. ↑ "Sir Bill Gammell stepping down from Cairn Energy". Oil Patch Asia. Archived from the original on 5 March 2014. Retrieved 5 March 2014.
  17. ↑ "Cairn Energy to change name to Capricorn Energy from mid-December". Indian Express. 6 November 2021.
  18. ↑ "Operations". Cairn Enery. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  19. ↑ "Cairn Energy tax dispute India: All you need to know". The Times of India. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  20. ↑ "Cairn Energy gets right to seize Indian assets in tax row". BBC News. 8 July 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.