AGS wins two ONGC contracts in a single day
Oman-based Africa Geophysical Services' (AGS) Indian subsidiary has won two 3D contracts from ONGC worth Rs157.48cr ($19m) for its Mehsana asset.
On March 1 (2024), ONGC awarded AGS a Rs78.25cr ($9.4m) contract to shoot 315-sq km 3D in the Limbodara-Mansa area of the Mehsana-Patan block in the north Gujarat part of the Vadodara-headquartered Western Onshore Basin. ONGC invited offers for the 11-month contract on December 29 (2023) with a January 19 (2024) bid deadline.
Four bids came in from Gurgaon-based Advent Oilfield Services, AGS, Mumbai-based Asian Energy Services, and Andhra Pradesh-based newcomer Vajra Prospectiuni. According to a company source, ONGC disqualified Vajra Prospectiuni's technical bid and opened financial bids in mid-February 2024.
AGS bid lowest with Rs78.25cr ($9.4m); Asian Energy came a close second with Rs79cr ($9.5m); and Advent came last, quoting Rs101.43cr ($12m). ONGC's tender says the contract period will begin on the date it sends out the mobilisation order and will include a 90-day mobilisation period and eight-month data acquisition timeframe.
Not to be counted in the data acquisition timeframe is June 16 to October 31, considered off-season. "However, the contractor is free to acquire data during off-season also if the weather permits without affecting the data quality and safety," stresses ONGC's scope of work.
In the Limbodara-Mansa area, the contractor must drill an estimated 700 up-holes for the seismic survey. 'Up-hole' drilling is a field seismic technique which uses receivers on the ground surface and an underground source, such as small explosives, to derive information about the subsurface rock characteristics.
On the same day (March 1, 2024), AGS won another ONGC contract worth Rs79.23cr ($9.6m) to shoot 415-sq km 3D in the Sobhasan-Nandasan-Mewad-Wadu-East Linch area of the Mehsana-Patan block with the same contract, mobilisation and off-season timeframe as the other contract. ONGC invited offers for this 11-month contract on December 22 (2023) with a January 17 (2024) bid deadline.
Bids came in from Advent, AGS, Delhi-based Rodinia Energy, and Vajra Prospectiuni, which again did not qualify. ONGC opened financial bids in mid-February.
AGS bid lowest with Rs79.23cr ($9.6m); Advent was second, quoting Rs102.45cr ($12.4m), and Rodinia came last, quoting Rs108.74cr ($13.1m).