US offshore rig contractor Vantage Drilling is at the head of a short queue of contestants aiming to win a deep-water drillship charter contract from India’s state-controlled Oil & Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for its east coast offshore operations.

Multiple people with direct knowledge of the tender process told Upstream that Vantage has emerged as the lowest bidder and suggested that a letter of intent is likely to be awarded by the operator early in 2021.

“Vantage offered the lowest dayrate of about $150,000 for the charter job,” one person said.

The driller is believed to have offered its ultra deep-water drillship ‘Platinum Explorer’, which is presently working in Indian waters, a second person said.

Vantage pipped Transocean and Seadrill, the two others bidders that had offered their drilling rigs to ONGC earlier this year for the coveted contract, a third person suggested.

The two bidders offered relatively higher day-rates ranging between $175,000 to $180,000, he suggested.

Transocean offered drillship DD-KG-2, while Seadrill proposed its rig West Polaris, project observers said.

Upstream reported earlier this year that the trio were battling it out in a tender which called for a drillship able to work in at least 1500 metres of water.

Multiple wells

ONGC is offering a fixed charter term of 24 months, with some possible extensions.

The operator requires a dynamically positionable (DP-2) rig to drill up to nine deep-water wells across two separate basins off India's east coast.

ONGC envisages drilling three deep-water exploration probes and completing four wells in the Cluster-2 region of its flagship KG-DWN-98/2 block in the Krishna Godavari basin.

In addition, it aims to drill two wildcats in its Mahanadi basin acreage, probably in water depths ranging between 600 and 1250 metres.

ONGC stipulated that the self-propelled drillship must be able to drill and complete wells up to a total depth of at least 6000 metres.

The work scope also includes a remotely operated vehicle, along with crew.

ONGC is pressing ahead with its offshore exploration plans this year, despite the adverse impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and low oil price environment.

Seismic tenders

The Indian operator earlier this year floated multiple tenders for offshore and onshore seismic acquisitions, as it aims to ramp-up exploration efforts, taking advantage of lower service costs in the oil and gas industry.

Bergen-based Shearwater GeoServices said earlier this month that it had landed a 3D broadband marine seismic acquisition contract from ONGC for work on two shallow-water fields off the nation’s western coast, with work likely to commence during the first quarter of 2021.

“The four-month campaign covers two areas totalling 2800 square kilometres in the Arabian Sea off the west coast of India,” the company had said.

UDW rig tender

In addition to the ongoing deep-water drillship tender, ONGC is aiming to charter an ultra deep-water drillship, capable of operating in water depths up to 3000 metres.

A trio of leading rig contractors submitted technical and commercial offers to ONGC for a dynamically positioned drillship in the 3000-metre category earlier in 2020, but the Indian giant later cancelled this tender--which industry sources attributed to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic-- and now plans to offer it at a later stage.

ONGC plans to hire the 3000-metre drilling unit for 18 months in order to drill up to six ultra-deepwater exploration and appraisal wells in KG-DWN-98/2.

Rigs And Vessels

Vantage Drilling in pole position for ONGC deep-water drillship contract