Swiber to subcontract remaining ONGC projects
Three companies are showing interest in taking over unfinished parts of ONGC projects from Swiber though they admit it's risky given the Singapore-based EPC contractor's shaky financial position.
Abu Dhabi-based NPCC, Valentine Maritime, and Malaysia's SapuraKencana are responding to technical queries raised by Swiber on their quotes submitted in early October for unfinished parts of the Daman field development, Pipeline Replacement Project-IV (PRP-IV) and C-26 projects. "But who will offer guarantees that we'll be paid?" asks a source at one of these companies.
"This is the most important question as claims from Swiber's (other) vendors are pending." Most of Swiber's pending work relates to the manufacturing, transport, installation, tie-up and commissioning of five platforms and associated facilities at Daman. For PRP-IV and C-26 the remaining work mainly includes installation, tie-up and commissioning.
"Swiber is still evaluating the offers," reports a source. State-owned PetroVietnam meanwhile continues to lobby ONGC for direct payment for five Daman platforms subcontracted by Swiber.
PetroVietnam officials arrived in Mumbai in early November to press their case with ONGC. Before that, on October 12, ONGC director offshore TK Sengupta led senior ONGC officials to Vietnam to inspect the PetroVietnam yard in Hanoi where the Daman platforms are under construction.
From Hanoi, the ONGC team travelled to Malaysia where it visited the SapuraKencana facilities between October 15 and 17 before returning to Mumbai.
