Shashi Shanker courts controversy again
ONGC director technical and field services Shashi Shanker attracts controversy whatever he does.
This report learns ONGC is rumoured to be thinking about investigating allegations that Shanker supported Delhi-based offshore driller Jagson International against the rules. Sources says an internal inquiry if carried out would harm Shanker as he prepares to apply for the ONGC chairman job, advertised by the PESB on March 7 with a CV deadline of May 11.
Shanker is the only eligible ONGC director who can apply. Under scrutiny is how Jagson escaped an ONGC ban proposed in the first week of June 2014 after it failed to mobilise jack-up Deepsea Treasure.
"By the second week (of June 2014) Jagson's name was cleared and ONGC allowed it to participate in a 12-rig tender," claims a source. In September 2014 Jagson won three-year contracts for Deepsea Fossil and Deepsea Fortune which began on May 17, 2015 and April 15, 2015 respectively at $72,868/day.
"Shanker was in charge of hiring rigs," we hear. "He must explain how Jagson was allowed to bid when there was a proposal to blacklist it."
