Cairn arm gets the thumbs-up

THE Indian arm of Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer Cairn Energy has received another major government approval to deliver crude oil.

The company, headed by former Scottish rugby international Sir Bill Gammell, has been told by the Indian government it can deliver to Salaya in western India.

Cairn, which struck oil in Mangala, its biggest field, in the desert state of Rajasthan in 2004, will start production from that field in the second half of 2009, it said.

Cairn India chief executive Rahul Dhir said that the company had received government approval to start production from Bhagyam, its second-biggest field, in the first half of 2010.

Edinburgh-based Cairn Energy was transformed by the discovery of billions of barrels of oil in its Rajasthan block.