Petrofac’s UAE operations continue after layoffs
28 November 2025
The UK-headquartered company Petrofac is continuing to work on projects in the UAE after issuing termination notices to around 180 of its staff in the country.
Operations across Petrofac’s portfolio in the UAE are progressing as normal, according to statements sent to several media organisations.
The employees were given notice of their early release from the company on 19 November as part of restructuring measures.
On 27 October, Petrofac announced that it had applied to appoint administrators, a move that potentially put thousands of jobs at risk and increased uncertainty for projects worth billions of dollars in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.
The total value of projects awarded to Petrofac and under construction in the region is $5.83bn, according to information recorded by the regional project-tracking service MEED Projects.
Petrofac also has bids under evaluation for 15 projects in the region worth a total of $19.28bn, according to MEED Projects data.
Ongoing restructuring
On 25 November, Petrofac released a statement saying that it was seeking to appoint administrators to its subsidiary Petrofac International Limited (PIL).
This subsidiary was previously focused on the group’s engineering and construction activities in the Mena region.
In its statement, Petrofac said that its subsidiary would “shortly make an application to the Royal Court of Jersey seeking a letter of request under section 426 of the Insolvency Act 1986”.
It added: “The purpose of this application is to ask the Royal Court of Jersey to issue a letter of request to the High Court of England and Wales and seek its assistance in appointing administrators to PIL.”
Petrofac said that PIL had no ongoing contracts in the Mena region and it intends to redeploy PIL’s 120 staff to other subsidiaries “wherever possible”.
It added: “The administration of PIL is expected to facilitate the purpose of Petrofac Limited’s administration, to help preserve the value of the wider Group and to facilitate the planned M&A solutions.”
Petrofac has said that it is continuing to push ahead with options for alternative restructuring and M&A solutions with key creditors.
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