Cairn in talks with one party over farm-out agreement in Greenland

Oil production and exploration group Cairn Energy raised hopes last week that it is making progress in finding a partner for its Greenland exploration prospect.

At an industry conference hosted by Macquarie Cairn's deputy chief executive, Mike Watts, said that the group was in talks with one party about a farm-out deal, the FT's Weekend edition reported this past Saturday.

However, the broker is reported to not expect an agreement until Cairn receives full 3D seismic data for the site, likely in the second half of 2012.

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Also of interest, the newspaper cites "analysts" as cautioning that Cairn's plan to return cash to shareholders may lead to selling by tracker funds and passive investors. So much so that it is thought likely that the company will lose its place in the FTSE 100 at a March index review for that reason.

Shares of Cairn Energy have closed 0.3% lower on Monday, at 291.4p.

AB