An EPIL-led consortium—with Saipem as the engineering partner—was awarded the contract for Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning (EPCIC) of four new well platforms by ONGC. Of these, three platforms are in the C-26 Cluster (C-23, C-26 and B-12-1) in the Tapti field, situated 160 km-200 km to the north-west of Mumbai in water depths of 20 m-30 m. The fourth platform—B-173 AB—is adjacent to an existing B-173 A platform in the Neelam field, situated 50 km west of Mumbai in water depths of around 55 m. The project also involved installing a bridge connecting the new B-173 AB platform with the operational B-173 A platform, including structural and process modifications related to the integration of the two platforms. The value of the contract is around Rs 550 crore (about USD 85.3 mln).
The project demanded stringent safety precautions and execution precision. Working on the C-23 platform proved to be especially challenging because of the low water depths and strong currents. While modifying the operational B-173A platform and installing the connecting bridge, additional precautions had to be taken to mitigate the risk posed by the presence of Hydrogen Sulphide gas.
