Another deepwater rig ext.
ONGC continues to delay a tender to hire two deepwater rigs leading to anxiety and anger among drilling subcontractors.
On July 15 (2023), ONGC sent out a terse email to Transocean and Vantage Energy, asking them to extend the validity of their bids until August 28 (2023) without giving reasons. Transocean and Vantage each offered two drillships on March 29 (2023) for this assignment, and the validity of their bids run out on July 28 (2023).
ONGC is offering a 21-month contract to drill seven ultra-deepwater wells off the Andaman Islands, using Port Blair as the shore base, and five ultra-deepwater wells in the Cauvery basin, using Kakinada as the shore base. A well-placed source attributes the bid deadline extension to uncertainty about some Andamans Islands drilling locations.
"Locations were released, but later there was a re-think, and they were cancelled," he claims. "There's still no finality about these locations."
Another source expresses surprise that ONGC has not finalised drilling locations four months after receiving bids. "What was it (ONGC) doing all this time?" he asks.
"Bids were originally due on January 31 (2023), but that was postponed four times to March 29 (2023); couldn't the drilling locations be finalised? Why is ONGC wasting everybody's time?" Transocean is offering DD-KG1 and Discoverer Inspiration. DD-KG1 is carrying out well completions at the MJ field for Reliance and BP at eastern offshore deepwater block KG-DWN-98/3 at $169,500/day, rising to $330,000/day when the contract extension from September to November 2023 kicks in.
She was initially meant to be released by Reliance-BP in October (2023). But Transocean's quarterly fleet status report released on July 19 (2023) says DD-KG1 will stay with Reliance-BP until November 2023.
Transocean adds Discoverer Inspiration is idling since April 2023, after her previous contract in the US Gulf of Mexico for EnVen Energy. Both Vantage rigs offered in this tender are with ONGC at eastern offshore deepwater block KG-DWN-98/2.
At $149,300/day, Platinum Explorer comes off contract in December 2023; West Polaris, managed by Vantage for UK-based Aquadrill at $225,000/day, comes off contract in August 2023.