RESEARCH CENTRE CLAIMS
Drake & Scull hounds Saudi Aramco payments
The loss-making Dubai contractor threatens ‘all legal options’ if the desert kingdom’s oil firm fails to settle debt
Dubai — Loss-making Dubai contractor Drake & Scull International says it expects to hear "very soon" from Saudi Aramco about settling nearly half of outstanding payments owed for its work on Riyadh’s King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Centre. Drake & Scull (DSI) had five claims outstanding with Aramco totalling 2.3-billion Saudi riyals ($612m) and hoped to soon settle 1.05-billion riyals of them, DSI Group CE Wael Allan said. If the matter was not settled, Allan said DSI may consider all legal options including arbitration to recover the remaining amount for its work on the research centre, which cost $543m and opened in 2016. "All options are open. We feel strongly that we are due some of these claims and we will pursue them to the end." DSI is struggling amid a depressed Gulf construction market as governments have reined in spending on infrastructure due to lower oil revenue.
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