Absolute Imaging sought clarity on how 100 technical marks would be split—OIL offered none.… – E&P Contracting Brief, 19 Jun 2025

Compliance traps in seismic bid: Too much ambiguity8From annexure confusion to capped liabilities, the bid process triggered multiple queries that revealed documentation gaps and evaluation ambiguities.

As a result three out of five bidders failed to qualify.

TNG and others were hit by misnumbered annexures. A late corrigendum fixed labels, but not before at least one bidder likely submitted against incorrect formats—raising procedural fairness questions.

Absolute Imaging sought clarity on how 100 technical marks would be split—OIL offered none. Without evaluation rubrics, bidders face unpredictable scoring during presentations.

Those who passed likely did so by aligning documentation perfectly despite ambiguities.

For others, unclear answers became silent disqualifiers.

Adjoining zone clause may corner contractors into unknown terrain8A corrigendum follows a familiar trend: scope pressure surfaces during pre-bid, prompting a reactive expansion under original pricing envelope.

Retention cut from 10% to 5% amid liquidity pressure8Whether prompted by market signals or bidder pushback, this mid-bid revision reflects a softer stance on cashflow terms—critical for LSTK and EPC players.

ONGC’s removal of DLP-based retention release could leave defects uncovered post-handover. What helps contractor liquidity may cost in long-term accountability.