Shell ready to return to India

SHELL is eyeing a return to India just three years after deciding to quit and selling the field that transformed Cairn Energy for loose change.

The astonishing U-turn comes as the Indian government prepares to divi up 20 more exploration blocks in the country later this Spring.

Shell has already had several meetings with Indian ministers and said it was looking at ?what was on offer?. A spokesman added: 'We are open to all potential opportunities.'

Any successful bid by Shell would give the company its first exploration interest in India since famously deciding to pull out in the belief there was nothing significant there.

Cairn paid it just $20m (£10.4m) to take control of a block in Rajasthan. Within two years it was announcing one of the biggest discoveries in the country ? one billion barrels of oil.

The find came just days after Shell's devstating reserves crisis broke.

Cairn's discovery is one of three 'world-class' finds made since the Indian government opened up its borders to more foreign multinationals six years ago in a bid to cut its reliance on energy imports.

State-run ONGC made a bumper gas discovery last week.

VK Sibal, India's directorgeneral of hydrocarbons, told the Evening Standard there was unprecedented interest in the current licensing round.

'Everyone is looking ? Chevron, Conoco, Shell, Marathon,' he said. 'Right now all the data rooms are full, everyone is looking at the data. In previous years no one came.'