Industry & Economy
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Petroleum
ONGC to award contracts for CBM blocks this month
Pratim Ranjan Bose
Kolkata
,
April 4
ONGC is hoping to award contracts for integrated exploration and development of coal bed methane (CBM) in six blocks in Jharkhand and West Bengal this month. The contract may witness major escalation of costs vis-à-vis the company's initial estimates.
The company is already running behind schedule in awarding the contracts, which is likely to have an effect on the targeted production of CBM in March 2007.
The consortium of Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd, Shivani Oil and Gas Exploration Services Ltd and Express Drilling Services has emerged as the sole bidder for the job. The other bidder for the project was rejected on technical grounds.
"The consortium led by Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd has placed a financial bid of roughly Rs 1,000 crore, which is well in excess of our expectation. We are now evaluating the same. Hopefully the contract will be awarded in the next two to three weeks," a senior company official said.
Sources said that the route of integrated contracts was preferred to begin commercial production of CBM on a fast-track basis.
"The integrated contract would help ONGC avoid the complexity of co-ordinating with too many contractors executing the project in piecemeal basis," the official said.
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