India - Arbitration Update

For Immediate Release                                                                                               11 March 2019

CAIRN ENERGY PLC ("Cairn")

India - Arbitration Update

Cairn is announcing an update on its proceedings against India under the UK-India Bilateral Investment Treaty (the "Treaty"). 

Cairn commenced proceedings against India in 2015 following retrospective taxation actions undertaken by the Indian Income Tax Department ("IITD") in 2014.  Final merits hearings for the arbitration concluded during 2018. Cairn's claim under the Treaty is for monetary compensation of ~US$1.4 billion, the sum required to reinstate the Company to the position it would have been in, but for the actions of the IITD since January 2014. The arbitration Panel is expected to issue a binding and internationally-enforceable award, and Cairn continues to have a high level of confidence in the merits of its claims in the arbitration.

Now that the merits submissions and hearings have concluded, the arbitration Panel is preparing its final award with respect to Cairn's claim under the Treaty.  The Panel had originally guided the arbitration parties that it expected to issue an award expeditiously following the conclusion of the main merits hearings in The Hague held in August 2018. 

When the parties appeared before the Tribunal in December 2018, the Panel advised that it had not been able to advance the award as expected due to the number of procedural matters that had been brought before it since the August hearings, and that it is was not in a position at that time to give guidance to the parties on the expected timing of the issuance of the award. 

Cairn subsequently wrote to the Panel in February 2019 asking if it was then able to provide any guidance on timing, and the Panel has now responded that although it remains mindful of Cairn's need for a swift decision, given its workload and the number of matters before it, it is still unable to provide specific guidance on timing.  As a result of this, Cairn expects that the timetable for issuing the award will be more protracted than originally anticipated and is unlikely to be before late 2019.

The Panel has said it will keep the parties updated regarding its progress. 

Enquiries to:

Analysts / Investors

David Nisbet, Corporate Affairs                                                              Tel: 0131 475 3000

Media

Linda Bain/Christian Goodbody, Corporate Affairs                                 Tel: 0131 475 3000
Cairn Energy PLC

Patrick Handley, David Litterick                                                               Tel: 0207 404 5959

Brunswick Group LLP    

About Cairn Energy PLC

Cairn is one of Europe's leading independent oil and gas exploration and development companies and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange for 30 years.  Cairn has explored, discovered, developed and produced oil and gas in a variety of locations throughout the world as an operator and partner in all stages of the oil and gas lifecycle. 

Cairn's exploration activities have a geographical focus in North West Europe, West Africa and Latin America, underpinned by interests in production and development assets in the North Sea.  Cairn has its headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland supported by operational offices in London, Norway, Senegal and Mexico.

For further information on Cairn please see: www.cairnenergy.com