Arab News, Wednesday, Mar 17, 2021 | Shaaban 3, 1442
Petrofac shares plunge 8% on Tuesday after being barred from UAE contracts
Emirates: Petrofac shares plunged 8 percent on Tuesday morning
after the company said it had been barred from competing for new contracts in
the UAE.
It comes months after a former executive of the oilfield services provider
pleaded guilty in Britain over bribery charges.
The stock dropped by about 8 percent as the market opened on Tuesday.
Earlier, London-listed Petrofac shares fell as much as 12 percent to hit session
lows on Monday after the company said ADNOC had notified it of the decision. The
Gulf country accounted for roughly 10 percent 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.
"Petrofac will continue to execute two EPC projects for ADNOC currently under
construction," it said. "ADNOC has stated that it recognises the long-standing
nature of its relationship with Petrofac and has confirmed that its decision
will be reviewed on a periodic basis."
It had previously said that the country accounts for just under a third of its
bidding pipeline.