Petrofac Launches Investigation Into Bribery Allegations

LONDON—U.K. oil-services company Petrofac PLC said it launched an internal investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption related to some oil deals and contracts.

Australia's Fairfax Media and the Huffington Post, citing access to what those media outlets say are tens of thousands of leaked emails, have reported that Monaco-based Unaoil S.A.M. paid bribes on behalf of other firms, including Petrofac, to secure oil industry-related work around the world.

Those reports have triggered the disclosure of probes into the matter in the U.K. and Monaco. Iraq's prime minister earlier this month called for an investigation as well. The reports couldn't be independently verified.

The two outlets reported Unaoil paid bribes on behalf of Petrofac to win contracts in Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Iraq and Syria. Petrofac said late Thursday in a statement on its website that it hadn't found any evidence of wrongdoing. But it said it has appointed law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and consultancy KPMG LLP to assist in conducting a full investigation.

"We take any allegations of activities that may contravene our strict antibribery and corruption standards very seriously," Petrofac said. "We aspire to the highest standards of ethical behavior and we are determined to investigate these allegations to the fullest extent possible," the statement added.

Unaoil said in a statement earlier this month that it denies the "grave allegations."

The company and its controlling family "take these extremely seriously and will do all that we can to defend ourselves," it said. "Many appalling things have been said about our business, allegations are being treated as fact, and speculation is rife."

Authorities in Monaco have said that they raided Unaoil's offices there last week and searched the homes of some of its executives, in cooperation with an investigation being conducted by Britain's Serious Fraud Office. Unaoil executives were also questioned, Monaco authorities said in a statement last week.

The raids and interviews are part of an "investigation into bribery involving international oil companies," the statement said. A spokesman at Britain's SFO said it was aware of the allegations against Petrofac and Unaoil, but couldn't confirm or deny its interest in the matter.

Write to Selina Williams at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 08, 2016 07:25 ET (11:25 GMT)

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