ONGC deepwater rig tender attracts two bids
Transocean and Russia-based Open Stock Company are the only two bidders in the race for ONGC’s tender to hire for three years a deepwater rig that can drill in water depths of 1300 metres.
By ONGC’s revised January 18 deadline Transocean had offered GSF Explorer and Open Stock Company had offered Deep Venture. ONGC is now evaluating both offers but has not indicated when price bids will be opened.
An industry source speculates that both bidders would have quoted less than $601,000/day, the rate offered by Transocean in the previous edition of this tender which closed last October, but rejected by ONGC as too high. Transocean had offered GSF Explorer in the previous tender as well.
Delhi-based Dynasty Oil also bought tender documents but did not bid as it couldn’t offer a rig. Meanwhile bidders in ONGC’s tender to hire 10 jack-ups – the biggest such tender in recent times – have until February 8 to send in clarifications on issues raised by ONGC.
Last month, on January 31, ONGC sent queries to seven bidders who responded by the December 19 deadline. One bidder tells us not to read anything suspicious in ONGC’s queries, which relate to technical and commercial aspects.
“These are routine queries,” he says. “Each bidder has a different set of queries depending on the way it has interpreted ONGC’s tender terms.
” Bids were submitted by Transocean, Dynasty Oil & Gas, Jagson Drilling, Jindal Drilling, Aban Offshore, Greatship Global and ABG FSO.