Cairn Oil & Gas, part of the Vedanta Group, has successfully installed the country’s first-ever Sub-Sea Template (SST) on the West Coast, marking a major engineering milestone in the Indian upstream sector.
The installation was carried out in the offshore Ambe block in the Gulf of Cambay as part of a Conductor Supported Platform (CSP) development. Notably, the operation was executed using a jack-up rig — the first such deployment for sub-sea template installation in Indian offshore waters.
Cairn holds the Ambe offshore block (CB/OSDSF/AMBE/2021), one of India’s earliest Discovered Small Field (DSF) assets. The company is now moving to fast-track development and monetisation of the shallow-water field on the West Coast.
The successful SST installation is expected to play a critical role in unlocking value from marginal offshore discoveries.
According to the company, the milestone demonstrates its engineering and technological capabilities, aligned with the upstream industry philosophy of “Design One, Build Many,” enabling scalable and cost-efficient offshore development.
Earlier this year, Cairn partnered with 2H Offshore for EPCM services, including engineering, procurement, construction, transportation and installation management. It also procured a drilling rig from Greatship India Limited and onboarded SLB as its Integrated Drilling Services partner. The SST installation was completed through precision-led execution under challenging offshore conditions, the company said.
With the sub-sea template now in place, Cairn plans to commence drilling operations shortly.
Cairn was awarded the Ambe block under the DSF-III bidding round in September 2021. The block spans approximately 728 sq km and is located around 35 km off the coast of Gujarat. The first hydrocarbon discovery in the block was made earlier during Cairn’s previous tenure in the area. The company aims to develop and monetise the basin to enhance domestic oil and gas production.
