(ET)
ONGC’s $1.7-billion work package, one of the biggest deep sea contracts offered in recent years, for its largest offshore block has perked up a listless global oilfield services industry and is likely to see fabrication of crucial underwater kits in the country for the first time.
The state-run explorer has awarded the contract, its single-largest ever, to a consortium of BGHE (Baker Hughes, a GE company), McDermott International and LTHE (L&T Hydrocarbon Engineering for block KG-DWN-98/2 off the Andhra coast. The block has the potential to reduce India’s import dependence for oil and gas by 10%. India currently imports 82% of oil need and 45% of gas requirement.
Sources said under the local content clause of the contract awarded in October, BHGE and LTHE are expected to jointly fabricate ‘manifolds’ — structures laid on the seabed for channelising oil and gas from different wells into a single stream — locally, which will be a first for the country. McDermott will also use its engineering and other resources in Chennai besides Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.
