Craman beats Schlumberger for ONGC work
Russian-Indian joint venture Craman Ecom Aviation Solutions has beaten Schlumberger to win an ONGC seismic contract in the mid-South Tapti and C-39 areas in the western offshore.
On July 4 (2024), ONGC told bidders that Craman had won the Rs47.45cr ($5.7m) contract for 1900-sq km of 4C-3D OBN seismic data processing, interpretation and inversion (used to give a better idea of rock properties in the subsurface). ONGC wants to identify prospective hydrocarbon exploration and development areas in the Tapti Daman region.
On March 20 (2024), ONGC invited offers for this 20-month contract with an April 10 (2024) bid deadline. Later, ONGC extended the bid deadline to May 1 (2024) and received four bids.
On May 1 (2024), ONGC opened technical bids from CGG Services India, Craman, Delhi-based Panseis Geo Services and Schlumberger. However, ONGC disqualified Panseis's technical bid.
ONGC opened price bids in late June (2024). Craman bid lowest with Rs47.45cr ($5.7m); Schlumberger came second with Rs54.85cr ($6.6m); CGG came last with Rs95.29cr ($11.4m).
Craman must mobilise within 45 days at Tapti-Daman, covering 27,000-sq km in the northeastern part of the Mumbai Offshore basin. "Old 3D seismic surveys were mainly aimed at P-wave exploration (P waves are the fastest seismic waves and can move through solid, liquid, or gas)," reads the tender.
"But this has limitations in exhaustive reservoir characterisation studies; current 4C-3D OBN seismic data will lead to more precise lithology(the study of rocks in a particular region)/fluid type identification." ONGC's tender adds the primary producing reservoirs in the area "are restricted to upper Daman sands (Sand10, Sand-30/35, Sand-40) while the lower Daman sands (Sand-50, Sand-55, Sand-60) are discrete and lateral continuity is difficult to establish."
ONGC has drilled two wells targeting the Panna Formation in the survey area, which it wants to explore further. "Recent discovery in the Panna formation makes imaging and reservoir characterisation all the more important for this formation," says the tender.
Registered in Gurugram, Craman is a limited liability partnership with two specialised G&G service companies as its shareholders: Russia-based GEOLAB and India-based GEOTEK Sciences.