Arab News, Tuesday, Mar 16, 2021 | Shaaban 2, 1442
Petrofac is suspended from new contract bids in UAE
Emirates: Petrofac said it was barred from competing for
new contracts in the UAE, months after a former executive of the oilfield
services provider pleaded guilty in Britain over bribery charges.
London-listed Petrofac shares fell as much as 12 percent to hit session lows on
Monday after the company said UAE’s state-backed oil firm,
ADNOC, had notified it of the decision. The Gulf country accounted for roughly
10% of its contract revenue in 2019.
In January, the former executive pleaded guilty to three bribery charges brought
by Britain’s Serious Fraud Office over payments made to agents to influence
awarding of contracts worth $3.3 billion in the UAE.
The former executive pleaded guilty to 11 other counts in 2019 related to
bribery charges in Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Petrofac does not currently include
the two countries in its bidding pipeline.
Petrofac said on Monday it would continue to work on two small UAE projects, but
did not provide any other details related to the suspension. It had previously
said that the country accounts for just under a third of its bidding pipeline.