Petrofac sees higher bidding activity in core markets

British oilfield services company Petrofac Ltd on Tuesday said it expected an underlying net profit of $135-$145 million for the first-half of 2017 as higher bidding activity in its core markets led to a strong order book.

Order book stood at $13 billion as of May 31, said the company, which designs, builds, operates and maintains oil and gas facilities. It recorded an order book value of $14.3 billion in 2016 as orders picked up in its core Middle Eastern markets.

The company's high exposure to the Middle East oil markets had resulted in good backlog coverage for 2017 as record production in the region drove up contract awards.

"High level of tendering activity is evidence of greater confidence in our core markets and we continue to have a very good pipeline of bidding opportunities," CEO Ayman Asfari said in a statement.

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)