Ravva - Cairn’s first development success story has been the bedrock of innovation, and the foundation of our success story in the country and the region. Ravva, which in Sanskrit and Telegu means “diamond” showcases the journey of growth that Cairn has been able to achieve in its business. Incidentally, Ravva is the only field in India to get such a unique name indicating the belief of the nation in it.

1. Ravva
Celebrating 16 Years of Technical Excellence
Pioneering Development | History & Vision

2. RAVVA – Celebrating 16 years of Technical Excellence
Pioneering Development
History and Vision
At the time of independence, India’s domestic oil production was a mere 250,000 tonnes per
annum. That amount came from Assam, the sole oil producing state in India.
Foreign companies entered the Indian exploration & production scene in the early fifties but their
presence was not very significant in Asia. By the start of the 1990s, oil and gas majors had
drilled more than 12,000 wells in Asia but only 12 in India. Most foreign experts were writing off
India as a place to discover new petroleum reserves.
As part of its liberalisation initiatives in the early 1990s, the Government of India (GoI) brought
the Petroleum Sector Reforms (PSR) to actively encourage the participation of foreign oil and
gas majors. The aim was to facilitate private investment in the sector, introduce state of the art
technology and bolster the dwindling foreign exchange reserves of the country.
The GoI developed the International Competitive Bidding (ICB) policy to identify those private
entities who would be allowed the rights to develop specific blocks. These block were ones
which the National Oil Companies had found to be subeconomic under the prevailing pricing
policies and investment requirements.
The policy required a competent foreign operator but allowed Indian companies with or without
previous experience in E & P activities also to bid. The National Oil Companies were required to
have a minimum 25% to 40% participating interest from day one.
Until the PSR, the three earlier rounds of exploration bidding had yielded no exploration
successes, though only foreign companies were allowed to bid. The blocks identified under the
ICB policy were:
 Panna-Mukta & Tapti (Mumbai offshore)
 Ravva (Andhra Pradesh offshore)
 Baghawala (Rajasthan)
The interested parties were exploration and production (E&P) players like Petronas, BHP,
HOEC, CNPC, and industrial houses like Tatas and Videocon.
The Ravva block, situated off the coast of Andhra Pradesh, was estimated to produce ~101
million barrels of crude oil and would have required an investment of around USD 450 million to
develop. Videocon originally bid for the Ravva block but in order to meet the GoI requirement for
an operator with experience in E&P operations, Command Petroleum from Australia was
brought in. The unincorporated joint venture (UJV) comprising of ONGC (40%), Videocon (30%)
and Command Petroleum (30%) submitted the bid.
After the bidding and protracted negotiations, the UJV won the Ravva block and the Production
Sharing Contract (PSC) was signed in 1994. The UJV took over the existing assets and facilities
from ONGC and within a short span of 18 months increased the production from 3,500 bopd to
35,000 bopd.

3. RAVVA – Celebrating 16 years of Technical Excellence
Pioneering Development
In 1996, Cairn Energy PLC acquired Command Petroleum and became the operator of the
Ravva block.
Ravva was a strategic fit for Cairn, as the company wanted to increase its presence in South
Asia.
Cairn’s investment to acquire Command Petroleum proved to be a sound investment decision
and paved the way for future growth in the country. The field also added a development success
story to Cairn’s exploration portfolio.
The initial vision was to develop Ravva as a model oil and gas field in India. As the Ravva JV
pioneered development of the Ravva field, the focus was on minimising costs and maintaining
volumes through the application of innovative processes and new technology.
Ravva has evolved into one of the lowest cost fields globally, profitable even when oil prices
ranged from USD 9 to 12 per barrel.
Over the years, the Ravva JV has produced more than 220 million barrels from Ravva. The GoI
has earned revenues on account of profit petroleum of approximately USD 4 billion (Rs.16,000
crore). This stands at the peak rate of 60 per cent and will continue until the end of the PSC
term.
Ravva pioneered many operational firsts in India, such as private helicopter licenses, an
offshore loading point for crude sales, a helibase at S.Yanam, the US Dollar to Indian Rupee
conversion of sales tax, and invoicing in dollars for a product produced in India. The Ravva JV
worked closely with the Government to secure various approvals and develop the block in a
timely manner.
The Ravva JV’s focus continues to be keeping the costs to a minimum while maintaining steady
volumes.
The Ravva block still holds potential and with the aid of innovative technologies, the Ravva JV’s
aim is to leverage and extend its prospects over the PSC term until 2019.