Petrofac bags long-term Oman deal

MUSCAT, June 8, 2017 – Petrofac has signed a long-term framework agreement with Petroleum Development Oman, the engineering major said on Thursday. The scope of the contract includes engineering, procurement and construction management services (EP+Cm).

Petrofac will also be looked at to provide support services for oil and gas projects. The framework agreement with PDO is for a duration of 10 years and builds upon existing relations with the Omani entity.

In 2014, Petrofac landed a USD 1.2-billion EP+Cm contract for work on the Rabab Harweel Integrated Project. The following year, it secured a USD-900 million deal for the Yibal Khuff venture.

“This long-term agreement with Petrofac reflects our continuing commitment to the safe and responsible development of hydrocarbons in the Sultanate and to drive maximum in-country value from our operations,” PDO Managing Director Raoul Restucci said in a press release.

Group managing director of Petrofac’s engineering and productions services division, Graig Muir, said, “This is a landmark agreement between our two companies and marks a new level of collaboration between PDO and Petrofac. It builds upon a long-standing relationship which spans more than two decades and encompasses a significant number of projects undertaken in Oman on both a lump-sum and reimbursable basis.”

The contract is some much-needed good news for the plagued engineering entity. Petrofac in May said it had received a notice from the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) that it was under investigation.

In a brief press release, Petrofac said it suspects the investigation to be related to the ongoing Unaoil probe. The oil and gas services firm operating out of Monaco came under scrutiny in at the end of March 2016 following an Australian media report alleging that Unaoil was at the centre of a widespread oil and gas corruption scandal.

Petrofac said it had dealings with Unaoil mostly in Kazakhstan between 2002 and 2009 for consultancy services. CEO Ayman Asfari and COO Marwan Chedid have been questioned by the SFO, the company said, adding that it was “cooperating with the authorities.” Later it became known the two had in fact been arrested.

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