Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) is exploring the acquisition of deepwater drillships or the formation of a joint venture to secure dedicated drilling capacity under its Mission Samudra Manthan programme. The company has issued an expression of interest to hire a specialist global offshore rig broking consultant to identify potential drillship owners, assess assets and valuations, and advise on negotiating an ownership or joint venture arrangement. The initiative aims to create priority access to deepwater drillship capacity to accelerate offshore exploration.

The Union Cabinet approved the National Offshore Exploration Scheme, known as Samudra Manthan, with an outlay of Rs 840.84 bn through 2030-31, the EOI said. The central scheme envisages drilling of 60 deepwater exploration wells, large scale seismic surveys, common offshore production and evacuation infrastructure, and an Oil and Gas Manufacturing and Services Zone to support domestic production and lower import dependence.

Under the scheme the government will provide financial support of up to 50 per cent of the cost of deepwater exploration wells, subject to a cap of Rs 6.75 bn per well. ONGC noted that India lacks domestic capacity to build deepwater drillships and currently relies on foreign owned rigs typically engaged through time charters, prompting consideration of ownership or a joint venture model.

The consultant engagement is structured in two phases, with an initial three month phase for identifying and shortlisting counterparties and establishing an indicative commercial basis, followed by a second phase of up to six months covering negotiations, documentation, financing coordination and transaction closure. The EOI requests market intelligence on owners with floaters rated for water depths of 1,500 metres or more and experience in drillship and semi submersible transactions over the past seven years, and mentions potential structuring through a GIFT City special purpose vehicle (SPV).