Cairn official who found oil in Thar desert to step down.

Dr Mike Watts, the man credited with discovering India's largest onland oil field in Rajasthan, will step down from the board of Cairn Energy plc in mid-May.

Watts, 58, was head of exploration at the Edinburgh-based firm when most of the 28 oil and gas finds, including Mangala and Bhagyam, were made in the Barmer block.

He saw oil in the Thar desert when Royal Dutch Shell could not and bought out the supermajor in block RJ-ON-90-1 for $7.25 million.

Michael John Watts, known as Mike, has been Deputy Chief Executive of Cairn Energy since March 31, 2009.

'As part of its long-term succession planning, Dr Mike Watts, Deputy CEO, and Jann Brown, Managing Director and CFO, will not seek re—election at the AGM on 15 May 2014 and will stand down as executive directors of the company with effect from that date,' Cairn Energy said in a statement.

HBL