KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 24): Sapura Energy Bhd said today the oil and gas support services provider and its group of companies strongly refute allegations on involvement in any form of corruption in the group's business dealings in Brazil and anywhere else in the world.

Sapura Energy said its statement to Bursa Malaysia today was in response to investigations in Brazil involving Sapura Energy and Seadrill Ltd.

"In relation to recent news on investigations involving Sapura Energy and Seadrill for alleged bribery involvement relating to Petrobras contracts, Sapura Energy and its group of companies strongly refute any involvement in any form of bribery or corruption in its business dealings in Brazil and anywhere else in the world," it said.

It was reported that Brazilian and Dutch police executed dozens of search warrants on Wednesday as part of a corruption probe into offshore oil rig company Seadrill and Sapura Energy, as Brazil's famed 'Car Wash' corruption investigation eyes an increasing number of international firms.

It was reported that in a statement, federal prosecutors in Brazil said they had carried out 25 searches, concentrated in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, while Dutch police had also carried out searches as part of a parallel investigation into the matter.

The prosecutors described the operation as an attempt to deepen ongoing probes into three contracts worth US$2.7 billion (about RM11.25 billion) signed between a Sapura Energy-Seadrill joint venture firm and state-run oil firm Petrobras in 2011, said Reuters.

Today, Sapura Energy said that in an earlier investigation by Brazilian authorities in 2016 and 2017, the company was cleared of all allegations of bribery or corruption.

Sapura Energy said it had in the past cooperated and will continue to cooperate with any investigation or regulatory authority in relation to bribery and corruption.

"The company has a strict policy against bribery and corruption and has internal policies and procedures to mitigate this risk. As part of its governance and processes, the company has a clause in all its agreements on anti-bribery which will make the agreement void if bribery is involved or is suspected to be involved.

"We have in the past taken immediate steps to cease contractual obligations whenever a suspicion of bribery or corruption was raised.

"These facts demonstrate and are clear evidence of the company’s commitment to its zero-tolerance policy towards bribery and corruption," Sapura Energy said.

At Bursa's 12:30pm break today, Sapura Energy's share price settled unchanged at 11 sen for a market value of about RM1.68 billion.

The stock saw some 34 million shares traded.

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