Sevan Drilling off the hook in Petrobras bribery probe

Noway’s anti-corruption agency Økokrim has closed an investigation into Sevan Drilling over the company’s drilling contracts won with Petrobras between 2005 and 2008.

To remind, the investigation started in 2015, when Sevan Marine, then parent company of Sevan Drilling, in 2015 said that some of its former employees might have been involved in a bribery case with Brazilian national oil company Petrobras.

Sevan Marine at the time said there were indications “that illegal conduct in the form of improper payments to obtain business occurred when Petrobras awarded contracts to Sevan in the said time period (2005-2008) regarding Sevan Piranema, Sevan Driller, and Sevan Brasil.”

Sevan Marine then handed over its investigation report to Økokrim, the Norwegian authority for investigation and prosecution of economic and environmental crime.

In a brief statement on Friday, Sevan Drilling said that “Økokrim today has completed the investigation against Sevan Drilling ASA and the original charges have been dismissed.”

Sevan Marine, no longer a parent company of Sevan Drilling, issued a separate statement on Friday.

Reese McNeel, CEO of Sevan Marine ASA said: “We are very pleased with this decision. Although Sevan Marine was never charged, the investigation has impacted on our development. We can now put this behind us and focus on the future.”

Related: Former Sevan Marine employees involved in bribery case in Brazil?

Offshore Energy Today Staff