Cairn, through its exploration subsidiary, has acquired a leading acreage position offshore Greenland, with interests in 8 hydrocarbon exploration licences (6 operated and 2 non-operated). The following is a timeline of Cairn's involvement in Greenland.
In December 2007, Cairn reached agreement with EnCana Corporation (“EnCana”) to acquire a 40% interest in each of the 2002/15 (Atammik) and 2005/06 (Lady Franklin) licences pursuant to a farm-in agreement. EnCana is the operator under each of these licences and holds a 47.5% interest. The remaining 12.5% interest is held by the Greenlandic state oil company, Nunaoil A/S (“Nunaoil”).
In January 2008, Cairn signed new licence agreements with the Bureau of Minerals and Petroleum, Greenland (BMP) for the exploration of hydrocarbons in blocks 2008/10 (Sigguk), 2008/11 (Eqqua), 2008/13 (Saqqamiut) and 2008/14 (Kingittoq). Cairn is operator under each of these licences.
In November 2008, Cairn signed a further two licence agreements with the BMP for the exploration for hydrocarbons in the Cape Farewell region offshore southern Greenland (2009/10 (Uummannarsuaq) and 2009/11 (Salliit)). Again, Cairn is operator under these licences.
In October 2009, Cairn sold a 10% interest in its 6 operated blocks offshore in the Disko West and Southern Greenland areas to Petronas International Corporation Ltd. Cairn now holds a 77.5% interest in the Sigguk and Eqqua blocks and an 82% interest in the Kingittoq, Saqqamuit, Salliit and Uummannarsuaq blocks.
The eight blocks in which Capricorn has interests cover an area of approximately 72,000 square kilometers. Water depths range from 50 metres to 2,200 metres.
For more information about Greenland and Cairn click here.
Greenland’s potential
The Arctic regions of Greenland are increasingly recognised as a world-class prospective area.
In July, the US Geological Survey (USGS) released its Circum-Arctic Resource Appraisal report. Their conclusion is that:
“The extensive Arctic continental shelf may constitute the geographically largest unexplored prospective area for petroleum remaining on earth.”
The USGS assesses the risk potential in a billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) as:
Eastern Greenland – 31 boe
Northern Greenland - 3.3 billion boe
Western Greenland/East Canada - 17 billion boe
The South Greenland offshore area lies outside of Arctic Circle. It was not included in the USGS survey.
Local Imagery Click to view
