Noble Corporation, a provider of contract drilling services, revealed this week that it was investigating its Nigerian operations to determine if an affiliate paid bribes for permits to move rigs into Nigerian waters. Of significant interest is a Nigerian affiliate’s reimbursement of certain expenses incurred by its customs agents for obtaining and renewing permits for importation of drilling units and related equipment into Nigerian waters. These payments may have been in violation of the FCPA.

Commentary: Bribery in Nigeria? No way. You have to be kidding us… On a more serious note, the reason why Noble conducted this probe was that management thought it would be a good idea to do so on the heels of a competitor (Tidewater) announcing its own probe of its Nigerian operations back on April 26th. Tidewater’s action was spurred by yet another competitor’s (Vetco) investigation (and so the chain continues). That’s a smart practice – as opposed to pointing at the other guy and laughing and insisting that it ‘would never happen here’ (as some companies do).