OREANDA-NEWS. "Cairn's future programme of high quality development projects and material exploration drilling is fully funded through to delivery of free cash flow from 2017.

The Company is focused on creating value and shareholder returns from disciplined capital allocation across a balance of exploration and development assets.

Over the next twelve months, the Company has an active programme of exploration and appraisal wells with all drilling beyond the current frontier operations targeting mature and emerging basins. In line with this strategy the farm-in to the Statoil-operated Ensis prospect in the Barents Sea commences a planned entry to this emerging region. In the meantime the Company is addressing its organisational size to ensure it has the appropriate structure to deliver the future work programme.

Cairn continues to seek resolution of the tax issue in India and will take all necessary steps to protect shareholders' interests.”

H2 2014 development and exploration capex USD 300m; 2015 exploration programme capex preliminary estimate of USD 110m, focused on mature and emerging basins in North West Europe; 2015 to 2017 capex on Catcher and Kraken USD 1billion

While interactions are ongoing with the Indian Income Tax Department, Cairn is currently unable to access the value in its ~10% residual shareholding in Cairn India Limited (CIL) valued at ~USD 1.1bn at 30 June 2014. Cairn is continuing to take all necessary steps to protect shareholders' interests

Addressing the organisational structure to retain core technical skills with a strong senior leadership team but delivering a reduction in the central cost base

Developments

A total of 56.1mmboe were booked as 2P Reserves at 30 June 2014 on a net working interest basis

The Catcher Field Development Plan (FDP) received approval from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in June with first oil targeted mid 2017. Consequently, Cairn has added 26.6 mmboe 2P reserves (Cairn 30% WI)

The Kraken development is progressing on schedule with first oil expected 2016/2017 (Cairn 25% WI) and 2P net reserves of 29.5 mmboe

Exploration

Seven exploration and appraisal wells are currently committed over the next twelve months:

Drilling is ongoing on the FAN-1 well, in Senegal, following which operations will re-commence on the SNE-1 well

In the Barents Sea, Cairn farmed in as non-operator to exploration block PL393B, which includes the Ensis prospect where a well is currently being drilled

In the UK North Sea, drilling on the non operated Aragon well is underway. Elsewhere in the UK North Sea, the West of Kraken well is scheduled to start drilling in Q3/Q4 2014

Plans are underway to source a rig for the Spanish Point appraisal well in 2015, subject to the necessary approvals; 3D seismic acquisition in the area is ongoing

5,100km2 of 3D seismic is being acquired and one exploration well is planned to commence on the Cap Boujdour Contract Area in Q4 2014

A number of further material contingent exploration wells, predominantly in the North Sea, will be subject to final investment decisions by partners during H2 2014

Future exploration expenditure will focus on mature and emerging basin opportunities. For the Group's extensive frontier exploration acreage, no further capital is committed beyond the current drilling programme and Cairn retains the flexibility to leverage success, farm down and partner as appropriate

Five kitchen designs submitted by individuals from four countries were selected by a panel of judges in the FirstBuild Micro-Kitchen Challenge to create a fully functioning kitchen design in a small footprint. FirstBuild will incorporate elements of each of the designs in micro-kitchen prototypes which it will manufacture and sell.

The need for micro kitchen designs is being driven by continued urbanization growth. By 2030, the world's urban population is expected to hit 5 billion, according to the United Nations, significantly driving down the average size of living spaces. The Micro-Kitchen Challenge was developed to solve the design and engineering hurdles in creating a kitchen that will maintain style and functionality in a significantly smaller footprint than traditional kitchens.

“This challenge illustrates the core mission of FirstBuild,” said Natarajan “Venkat” Venkatakrishnan, director of FirstBuild and R&D for GE Appliances. “By bringing together a community, we combine customer discovery with international talent to get innovative products from mind to market very quickly.”

FirstBuild.com is an online community of engineers, designers, scientists and home enthusiasts dedicated to conceiving, co-creating and building the next generation of major home appliances. Participants identify market needs, directly participate in the product development and watch via social media as ideas speed from mind to market at the FirstBuild Microfactory in Louisville, Ky.

While several challenges and projects are underway, the Micro-Kitchen Challenge is the first for FirstBuild. The challenge was launched as part of the New York City Economic Development Corporation's (NYCEDC) NYC BigApps 2014, an annual contest to engage members of the tech and civic ecosystems to create apps and products using public and private data to address pressing challenges.

The micro-kitchen design winners, chosen from a pool of 87 entries, narrowed down to five finalists, are:

Alexandra Jemnicka (Slovak Republic)

Issac Benjamin Robledo Cazares (Guadalajara, Mexico)

Lautaro Vogel (Buenos Aires, Argentina)

Jolee Nebert (Seattle, WA, USA)

Tim Boyle (Mesa, AZ, USA)

The judging panel included members of the industrial design and manufacturing communities:

Scott Lundberg, acting chair of industrial design at Pratt Institute

Graham Hill, entrepreneur, TED talker, micro-living enthusiast

Natarajan “Venkat” Venkatakrishnan, director of R&D for GE Appliances, Director of FirstBuild

Steve Diskin, chair of industrial design at Pratt Institute

Lou Lenzi, director of industrial design at GE

Now that the winning designs have been selected, the community will work on the engineering specifications. FirstBuild's next step will be creating a functional prototype of the micro kitchen with the goal of building a small batch of products for sale in test markets.