ONGC Ups Its Game: Largest, Most Advanced Contract To Shave Off Country’s Dependence On Fuel Imports By 10 Per Cent

ONGC’s $1.7 billion contract to a consortium of BGHE (Baker Hughes, a GE company), McDermott International and LTHE (L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering) for block KG-DWN-98/2 off the Andhra coast, is ONGC’s single largest ever contract with a potential to lift the global oilfield services industry, reports TOI.

The block which reportedly has the ability to reduce India's import dependence for oil and gas by almost 10 per cent, will see crucial underwater kits being fabricated. India imports 45 per cent of its gas requirement, and 82 per cent of oil needs currently.

Under the clauses of the contract, BHGE and LTHE are expected to fabricate 'manifolds' jointly. These structures, which are laid on the seabed for channelising oil and gas from different wells into a single stream, are to be manufactured locally, a first for India. McDermott will also chip in its resources in Chennai and Kuala Lumpur.

ONGC took the bold step to combine the different work packages into a single integrated tender to avoid interface issues and ensure closer monitoring of workflow. Interface issues have plagued contractors for years, for projects in which packages were tendered separately in the past, leading to time or cost over-runs.

ONGC expects to produce gas by December 2019 and oil by March 2021, with daily peak gas production rate is projected at 16 million cubic meters per day and daily peak oil output at 80,00.