Petronas employee arrested in graft probe

Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas has confirmed that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has arrested its employee for suspected graft.

The arrest follows an internal investigation on the employee conducted by Petronas, which later reported the case to MACC, the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Petronas also added it assisted MACC investigators on the case prior to the arrest.

“Petronas does not condone nor tolerate any form of misconduct among its employees and contractors and is extending its fullest cooperation to MACC to further assist in their investigation if necessary,” the company concluded.

According to a report by the Malaysian business news website, The Star, following an investigation into a Petronas Carigali senior official, the senior official and two others were arrested on Tuesday over suspected graft involving RM 23.7 million ($5.6 million).

Petronas’ subsidiary, Petronas Carigali, engages in oil and gas exploration and production services and offers oil and gas well drilling, as well as engineering, constructing, and commissioning natural gas pipeline and associated facilities.

Further according to the report, the Petronas Carigali senior official, a director of another company, and a former Petronas Carigali technical assistant have been remanded for six days until September 11.

It is believed that the three submitted inflated invoices for a drilling project that was paid by Petronas but the work was never carried out.

Offshore Energy Today Staff