Page 6 - AsianOil Week 26
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In the case of the Rajasthan block, ONGC disputed some of Cairn’s exploration expenses and refused to allow them be recovered. is then reportedly led Cairn to seek arbitration against ONGC.
PTI quoted a Cairn spokesperson on July 1 as saying: “ e suggestion that Cairn has outstanding dues towards the joint venture partner is incorrect.”
Unnamed ONGC officials, however, con- rmed the dispute to the newswire as well as the problems in receiving royalty reimbursements.
The problem apparently stems from the original PSC’s design. Before Cairn explored the block, Royal Dutch Shell was the original developer and owned a 100% operating inter- est. ONGC held the licence and the right to back in to a 30% stake in the event of a dis- covery. e contract was designed to prevent a state partner from being exposed to unsuc- cessful exploration costs.
Image: Cairn India
PTI’s sources said that while the government had approved Cairn’s additional exploration in the production block, ONGC was contractually free from carrying those costs. As such, the two sides disagreed over certain cost recoveries, with the sources noting that most common disagree- ment tended to occur over tender values and nal awards as well as inclusion of past costs as exploration expenses.
Kazakh oilfield brawl strands Indian workers
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
UP to 150 Indians have reportedly been stranded at one of several Kazakh oil eld developments fol- lowing a brawl between local and foreign workers.
More than 40 people were wounded when employees at a project to expand the Tengiz oil eld’s production from 28.7mn tonnes per year (tpy) (576,000 bpd) in 2017 to 39mn tpy (780,000 bpd) in the mid-2020s clashed amid mounting tensions among the multinational work force.
On June 29, field operator Tengizchevroil (TCO) said an “interpersonal conflict” had taken place at the 3GP construction site that day. It added that construction work had been temporarily suspended and that local authorities including the police were on site.
TCO is a consortium of US super-majors Chevron (50%) and ExxonMobil (25%), along with Kazakhstan’s state-owned KazMunaiGas (KMG) (20%) and LukArco, a subsidiary of Rus- sia’s Lukoil (5%).
Kerala State Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has directed the Department of Non-Resident Keralites A airs (NORKA Roots) to liaise with the Indian Embassy to ascertain worker details and take “immediate action”. It remains unclear what form this action would take.
Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Vellamvelly Muraleedharan, how- ever, said on June 30 that no serious injuries had been reported to the Indian embassy. Hundreds of Jordanian and Lebanese work- ers are understood to have been evacuated from the site.
Image: IEA
RFE/RL quoted one unnamed worker as saying that the fight had been caused by for- eign workers sharing a photograph that the Kazakh employees had found to be offen- sive. Jordanian Ambassador to Kazakhstan Giskard el-Khoury later confirmed that a Lebanese worker had shared a photo of a female Kazakh colleague.
Consolidated Contractors Co. (CCC), which won the contract for 3GP, has since released a statement condemning the Lebanese worker’s actions and has said the employee in question has been red.
e 3GP contract, which is estimated to be worth more than $2bn, forms part of the $36.8bn Tengiz Future Growth Project-Well- head Pressure Management Project (FGP- WPMP) development.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 26 03•July•2019
