Capricorn Energy
 | |
| Company type | Public limited company |
|---|---|
| LSE:CNE | |
| Industry | Oil and gas |
| Founded | 1981 |
| Headquarters | Edinburgh,Scotland, UK |
Key people | Maria Gordon(Chair) Randy Neely(CEO) |
| Products | Petroleum, natural gas and other petrochemicals |
| Revenue |  $201.0 million (2023)[1] |
 $(87.4) million (2023)[1] | |
| $(144.0) million (2023)[1] | |
| Website | www |
Capricorn Energy plc(formerlyCairn Energy plc) is a British oil and gas exploration and development company based inEdinburgh,Scotland.
The company is listed on theLondon Stock Exchangeand is a constituent of theFTSE 250 Index.
History
[edit]The company was founded in 1981 by SirBill Gammell,the former internationalRugbyplayer, his father James (Jimmy), his brother Pete and others, as Cairn Energy. Its initial operations were in the USA and, following its listing on theLondon Stock Exchangein 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 theM25,[2]and at Humbly Grove (nearBasingstoke).[3]
The company expansion started with a substantial (non-operated) gas discovery (East Cameron 331) Bangladesh nearChittagong,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 toHalliburtonin return for Halliburton bearing a 50% share of the development costs.[8]In 1997, it sold half of all its Bangladeshi interests toRoyal Dutch Shellin 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 inRajasthanonshore 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 theMangala oil field.[10][11]
In December 2010, the company agreed to sell a stake of 58.5% ofCairn India,its India-focused subsidiary, toVedanta Resourcesfor $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
[edit]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
[edit]In 2006-2007, after Cairn UK transferred shares of Cairn India Holdings to its Indian counterpartCairn India,it refused to paycapital gains taxin 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 1962retrospectively.[19]
In December 2020, thePermanent 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 toAir India.[20]
References
[edit]- ^abc"Preliminary Results 2023"(PDF).Capricorn Energy.Retrieved28 March2024.
- ^Onshore Oil and Gas Discoveries 1983–2000National Archives
- ^"Production of oil from a single well".East Hampshire Council.Retrieved16 April2017.
- ^Conclusion of successful Sangu drilling programmePR Newswire, 1996
- ^Michael Seymour: BiographyFT.com
- ^Presentation to The Scottish Oil Club by Dr. Mike Watts of Cairn Energy titled "Building a Business in South Asia"Archived11 March 2007 at theWayback MachineScottish Oil Club, November 2004
- ^"Oil and Gas – Cairn lifted by Command takeover".HeraldScotland.Retrieved23 September2020.
- ^Alliance to produce gas off BangladeshOil & Gas Journal, 5 August 1996
- ^Shell joins Cairn Energy in natural gas projects in Bangladesh, IndiaJournal Record, 1 May 1997
- ^"Cairn strikes it rich on land Shell sold".The Guardian.20 January 2004.Retrieved23 September2020.
- ^Cairn's oil find in Mangala to reduce India's import billFinancial Express, 14 November 2008
- ^"Vedanta Shareholders approve deal with Cairn - Economic Times".Indiatimes.New Delhi. 14 December 2010.Retrieved29 September2012.
- ^ "Vedanta agrees to buy Cairn India stake".Upstream Online.NHST Media Group. 16 August 2010.Retrieved5 September2010.
- ^Lamont, James (14 September 2011)."Cairn progresses in sale of $6.5bn stake - FT.com".Financial Times.New Delhi.Retrieved29 September2012.
- ^"Cairn Energy sells 3.5% India arm stake".29 June 2012.
- ^"Sir Bill Gammell stepping down from Cairn Energy".Oil Patch Asia. Archived fromthe originalon 5 March 2014.Retrieved5 March2014.
- ^"Cairn Energy to change name to Capricorn Energy from mid-December".Indian Express.6 November 2021.
- ^"Operations".Cairn Enery.Retrieved12 May2020.
- ^"Cairn Energy tax dispute India: All you need to know".The Times of India.9 July 2021.Retrieved15 July2021.
- ^"Cairn Energy gets right to seize Indian assets in tax row".BBC News. 8 July 2021.Retrieved9 July2021.
