March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Petrofac Ltd., the U.K. oil and gas services provider with projects in Tunisia, the North Sea and Kazakhstan, said full-year profit rose 57 percent after winning new orders.

Net income climbed to $188.7 million, or 54.14 cents a share, from $120.3 million, or 34.87 cents, in 2006, the London- based company said today in an e-mailed statement. The shares fell to a two-week low on concern a staff shortage will limit the rate at which the company can take on new orders.

``Although the market for oil services is exceptionally strong, Petrofac is limited from increasing its order book through a lack of key personnel to take on additional orders,'' analysts at Seymour Pierce Ltd. in London, wrote in a report.

Petrofac fell 38.5 pence, or 6.8 percent, to 527.50 pence in London. The shares jumped 37 percent last year.

Oil services companies including John Wood Group Plc and Abbot Group Plc are benefiting from soaring crude prices, which have spurred exploration by producers such as Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc. Oil traded in New York has risen about 80 percent in the last 12 months.

Petrofac's order portfolio rose 6.4 percent to $4.44 billion as of Dec. 31 from a year ago. It will pay a final dividend of 11.50 cents per ordinary share, raising the full- year dividend to 16.40 cents a share. Sales gained 31 percent to $2.44 billion.

`Stronger Earnings'

``We definitely see stronger earnings in 2008,'' Chief Executive Officer Ayman Asfari said in an interview. ``Demand for our services is strong.''

The company invested $140 million in projects last year, mostly in Tunisia, Chief Financial Officer Keith Roberts told reporters on a conference call today.

``We do see the capital investment program stepping up quite significantly,'' because of a project in the U.K. part of the North Sea, Roberts said. He forecast the development of the Don deposit, in which Petrofac holds about a 50 percent interest, will need about 360 million pounds ($727 million) in investment.

The company increased staff numbers to 9,600 last year, from 7,800 previously, to meet growing demand for its services.

Behind Schedule

Petrofac plans to produce its first natural gas from the Chergui project in Tunisia in the second quarter of this year. It will also continue drilling in offshore Permit PM304 in Malaysia and will also start drilling at the Don deposit in the North Sea, which is expected to pump its first oil in 2009, according to Roberts.

The Tunisia gas extraction startup is ``two to three months behind'' schedule, because ``we found there were some issues we had to deal with,'' after Petrofac took over the project, Asfari said.

Petrofac is bidding for contracts in Algeria, Syria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Kazakhstan and plans to secure projects in Nigeria, Asfari said. It's also in talks with Russia's OAO Gazprom on the development of the Kovykta field in eastern Siberia, after it had to withdraw from the project following changes of ownership.

Petrofac is working with France's Total SA and Norway's StatoilHydro ASA on the expansion of the Kharyaga project in Russia, Asfari said.

``We see a lot of growth in the Middle East'' and central Asia in Kazakhstan, he said. ``We think we are in a good position on a number of these major contracts.''

The seven-week shutdown of the Thistle Alpha platform in the North Sea following a fire on Nov. 25 didn't impact Petrofac's earnings, Asfari said. The company ``addressed very adequately'' notices from the U.K.'s Health and Safety Executive about emergency procedure handling.

To contact the reporter on this story: Eduard Gismatullin in London at egismatullin@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 10, 2008 13:02 EDT