Indian hydrocarbons giant Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) has awarded the Perth-based firm a contract for the deepwater G1-GS15 field in the Krishna-Godavari Basin on the east coast of India adjacent to the state of Andhra Pradesh.
It comes soon after Clough received a letter of intent from British Gas for a US$128 million contract to service the Panna Field Development off the west coast of India.
This new Krishna-Godavari Basin contract extends for the expected 15-year life of the G1-GS15 field. Clough will start work on the project immediately with completion expected in 2006.
As lead contractor, Clough’s work will include design, procurement and installation for a new onshore gas plant, a shallow water wellhead platform, and a five-well development with sub-sea completions and dual pipelines linked to onshore processing facilities.
Engineering will be undertaken in Western Australia and India with Clough also using its derrick lay barge, Java Constructor. About 80% of the work will be offshore, the company’s general manager corporate affairs Robert Ash told EnergyReview.Net this morning.
“This contract is fantastic for Clough,” Ash said.
“We’ve had a low order book for some time now and these two Indian projects have done a lot to redress that situation.”
India will be an increasingly important market for Clough, according to Ash.
“India is one of our four key regional centres, the others being Australia, Indonesia and Thailand,” he said.
“We currently have people based in Mumbai handling engineering and project management and our current Indian projects will help us consolidate our presence in India and the surrounding region.”
ONGC is the first oil and gas producer to move into the deepwater leases off India’s east coast and this could open the way for other deepwater developments by other operators, according to Clough.
“Clough has a strong background in deepwater operations and we are in a good position to increase our market share as more deepwater projects are developed in Asia,” Ash said.
Clough recently installed a tension leg platform and floating production unit for Unocal Indonesia in water more than 1000 metres deep.
The G1-GS 15 development is located 28 km offshore in water up to 400 metres deep.
The development of the fields will create India’s first ‘Digital Oil and Gas Field’, incorporating remotely monitored and controlled ‘smart’ wells. The project was developed by ONGC, with consultancy from INTEC.
