India’s Larsen & Toubro Hydrocarbon Engineering (LTHE) is poised to win a prestigious $350 million-plus contract from state-controlled Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) to fabricate a much-delayed living quarters platform for operations off the country's west coast.

Multiple people close to the tender process told Upstream that ONGC recently opened commercial bids for the 120-person NQL accommodation platform, with LTHE emerging as the low bidder.

“LTHE submitted the lowest bid, offering $351.3 million that includes the marine loading costs,” one person said.

A second person also confirmed the news, adding that a notification of award is likely to be placed by ONGC later this month.

LTHE is said to have pipped compatriot Afcons, the only other contender for the prized offshore engineering, procurement and construction contract, project observers said.

The duo earlier this year submitted technical and commercial offers to ONGC, after the Indian giant retendered the contract.

Afcons quoted a price of $396.9 million, also inclusive of marine loading, a third person said.

Abu Dhabi’s National Petroleum Construction Company (NPCC) and a handful of yards from Southeast Asia had also shown initial interest in the tender process but did not participate.

The accommodation deck will be installed on a jacket, with the entire facility to be bridge-linked to the nearby NQO platform.

ONGC still aims to commission the facility in the first quarter of 2023.

The accommodation platform has been in the works for years but its execution has been delayed on several occasions due to sustained low oil prices and changes in ONGC’s tender policies.

ONGC earlier in 2020 cancelled a previous tender process in order to adjust its procurement rules to new government guidelines for bidders that come from countries sharing land borders with India.

The Indian giant has continued its spending plans on key strategic developments despite the Covid-19 outbreak but its capital expenditure is likely to be significantly lower this year.

ONGC is set to witness an 18% decline in its capex during the ongoing financial year, with pandemic restrictions having an impact on the execution of several projects, a senior company official earlier said.

ONGC could see its capital expenditure coming down to 265 billion rupees ($3.6 billion) during the 2020-2021 financial year.

In addition to the NQL facility, ONGC has been preparing to float tenders for several packages involving its $1 billion-plus Daman upside gas project off India's west coast.

However, these EPC packages have been delayed by several months due to the coronavirus outbreak and low gas prices.

The operator earlier this year also cancelled a separate tender involving the seventh phase of its pipeline-replacement project (PRP-7) off India’s west coast.

The PRP is a flagship annual maintenance contract carried out to sustain the production profile of some of the company's largest domestic offshore fields.

Field Development

Indian player primed for $350 million platform award from ONGC