SBM Offshore hopes to get back on Petrobras’ bidders list

SBM Offshore, a provider of floating production storage and offloading vessels, expects it will be qualified to bid for Petrobras’ projects again after October elections in Brazil, Reuters reports.

The Dutch company, dubbed the world’s largest supplier of FPSOs, has been put on ice when it comes to taking part in the Brazilian oil giant’s new projects pending a bribery investigation.

In late May this year, Petrobras’ CEO said it would not be seeking bids from SBM Offshore, as long as the Dutch supplier of floating production units was under investigation in Brazil. According to allegations, SBM Offshore spent millions on bribing Petrobras executives to win contracts.

Following discussions with Petrobras, SBM Offshore on June 12 said it would not take part as an international contractor in the current tenders for the Tartaruga Verde and Libra offshore fields.

Turn the page

Bruno Chabas, the company’s CEO told Reuters that after the next month’s elections in Brazil, the company expects to be back in the game, as both, Petrobras’ and SBM’s internal investigations found no evidence of wrongdoing. General elections will be held in Brazil on October 5 2014 to elect the President, the National Congress, state governors and state legislatures.

“We are rather confident that after the elections we should be back on the bidders’ list,” Reuters has quoter Chabas as saying.

In July, Petrobras warned of a potential reduction of $15 billion in net income between 2014 and 2018 in case of termination of current contracts with SBM Offshore.

SBM Offshore in August announced it set aside $240 million it may have to give away in a potential bribery settlement case. The company has been accused of bribery and improper sales practices involving third parties in Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Brazil.

Illicit cash outflows in Brazil

More than US$400 billion flowed illegally out of Brazil between 1960 and 2012— draining domestic resources, driving the underground economy, exacerbating inequality, and facilitating crime and corruption—according to a new report by Global Financial Integrity (GFI), a Washington DC-based research and advocacy organization.

“Brazil has a very serious problem with illicit financial flows, and curtailing them should be a priority for whichever administration wins the forthcoming elections,” noted GFI President Raymond Baker, a longtime authority on financial crime.

“Illicit outflows are draining billions of dollars each year from the official Brazilian economy; money that could otherwise be used to help the nation’s economy grow.  Beyond the direct loss to the economy, these outflows are driving the underground economy, fueling crime and corruption, and costing the government significant revenue.”