Cairn’s transformation over the last five years has given birth to a new full-cycle E&P company, with two projects under construction in the UK and a large exploration portfolio in the Atlantic Margin. The jewel in Cairn’s portfolio is Senegal, where it made one of the world’s largest offshore oil discoveries in 2014 (SNE). While the market will be closely watching Cairn’s Senegal drilling campaign starting in Q415, an even more material valuation lever for the stock is the outcome of the $1.6bn Indian tax dispute. In an environment where many independents are struggling to secure funding, Cairn is in the comfortable position of being fully funded until first oil from Catcher and Kraken in mid-2017. Cairn’s conservative strategy may reflect its mixed track record on past frontier exploration (outside Senegal) and M&A. Despite this, our RENAV of 216p/share offers reasonable upside at a much lower risk profile than many E&Ps.
