Seadrill Limited has moved to distance itself from the Petrobras corruption scandal which has snared both Sevan Marine and Sevan Drilling last week.
“The charges made against Sevan Drilling relate to contracts awarded during the 2005-2008 time period, prior to both Seadrill’s initial acquisition of a minority stake in Sevan Drilling and acquiring control,” Seadrill stated in a release to the Oslo Bors today. At the time the Petrobras contracts were awarded, Sevan Drilling was a wholly- owned division of Sevan Marine. In May 2011, Sevan Drilling was separated out from the 100% ownership of Sevan Marine and listed separately on the Oslo stock exchange. In December 2011 Seadrill acquired a 28.5% stake in Sevan Drilling and ultimately increased its stake to 50.11% in July 2013.
An independent corporate investigator established last week it was “more likely than not” that ex-Sevan Marine employees made illegal payments to Petrobras to secure contracts between 2005 and 2008.
The alleged bribes were made to obtain the Brazilian energy company’s charters of Sevan’s floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel Sevan Piranema, and its cylindrical drilling rigs Sevan Driller and Sevan Brasil, according to Advokatfirmaet Selmer’s findings.
Selmer found indications of suspicious acts and transactions, “constituting both a neglect of Sevan’s affairs and/or a conflict with Sevan’s interests and such acts may potentially represent economic crime”, a statement from the Oslo-listed company said.
The possible wrongdoings are connected to individuals who have since left Sevan.
