Commentary
Indrajit Sen
Oil & gas editor

Petrofac has turned a corner. The completion of sales transactions for its Asset Solutions business in April and the UAE-based unit Petrofac Emirates in late May mark the end of a tumultuous period for the UK-headquartered company that started in at least 2019. They are also the beginning of a new chapter.

Since the start of the decade, Petrofac has been rattled by problems cascading from a corruption scandal that led key clients in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region to suspend the company from project tendering. It also caused widespread layoffs, saw the company's shares delisted from the London Stock Exchange in May 2025 and, ultimately, forced the firm to file for administration in the UK in October due to mounting financial challenges.

In the midst of these legal and financial struggles, the Covid-19 pandemic dealt further blows to Petrofac's operations.

Yet despite the troubles of its besieged parent company, Abu Dhabi-based Petrofac Emirates continued to win oil and gas contracts from Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc Group).

Petrofac Emirates, which was established in Abu Dhabi in 2008 and operates a major base in the emirate of Sharjah, won approximately $6.4bn-worth of engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts in the Mena region in the first half of the decade, according to data from regional project tracker MEED Projects. Nearly half of the company's total contract awards in 2020-25 was generated in the UAE.

Petrofac Emirates won major contracts for the third tranche of the first phase of Adnoc Gas’ Rich Gas Development programme in June 2025, valued at $1.2bn. The contracts cover engineering, procurement and construction management services and overseeing the procurement and construction contracts for the building of a new inlet facility; two new gas dehydration and compression trains, each with a capacity of 420 million cubic feet a day; and associated infrastructure at the Das Island liquefaction facility.

Petrofac Emirates is also a key contractor within Adnoc Gas’ larger scheme to upgrade its sales gas pipeline network across the UAE. The firm has won two out of eight EPC packages for the project, which is also known as Estidama. 

Separately, Adnoc Gas awarded Petrofac a $615m EPC contract in October 2023 for the carbon dioxide (CO2) recovery project at the Habshan complex. The planned Habshan carbon capture, utilisation and storage facility will have the capacity to capture and permanently store 1.5 million tonnes a year of CO2 within geological formations deep underground.

Looking ahead, Petrofac Emirates is expected to thrive under its new ownership – a consortium of financial investors. The group is led by New York-headquartered hedge fund Mason Capital Management and UK-based asset management firm Pearlstone Alternative, and is expected to make significant investments to improve Petrofac Emirates’ core capabilities and increase the company's workforce.

The management change at Petrofac Emirates also comes at an opportune time, as Adnoc strives to achieve an oil production capacity of 5 million barrels a day by 2027 – in a campaign known as Accelerated Integrated Programme 5 – and attain gas self-sufficiency by the end of the decade.

With its financial stability secured under the new owners, a resurgent Petrofac is likely to compete to regain its lost share of the UAE projects market – as well as for Adnoc Group’s recently announced AED200bn ($54.45bn) capital expenditure budget for new project awards in 2026-28.