Jan 10 (Reuters) - Australia's Worley Ltd said on Wednesday it disagreed with an arbitration tribunal that ruled in favour of the Ecuadorian government over a service contract dispute on grounds that the engineering firm's conduct amounted to corruption.

Late last month, a tribunal dismissed Worley's arbitration on jurisdictional and admissibility grounds, including allegations of corruption, illegality or bad faith by the Australian engineering company and a subcontractor, citing "wilful blindness" by Worley towards the subcontractor's corruption.

"Worley disagrees with the (tribunal) decision and is considering the options for further legal proceedings," the company said.

"Worley denies any corruption, illegality or bad faith on Worley's part. In particular, Worley did not breach anti-bribery and corruption laws," it added.

The Sydney-based firm said the principals of its subcontractor were found to be corrupt by an Ecuadorian court, and that following an investigation that revealed wrongdoing on part of the subcontractor, the company has terminated its connection with them.

"Worley had followed proper processes, including conducting due diligence, and denies that it was wilfully blind in respect of the subcontractor’s corruption," it said.

Worley had in 2019 sued Ecuador claiming

missing

payments from contracts with state-run Petroecuador related to the renovation of the Esmeraldas refinery and other gas projects following allegations of wrongdoing and corruption by the government.

The company clarified on Wednesday that Petroecuador owed Worley A$58 million ($38.88 million) on a net basis, which has been recorded as non-current in Worley’s periodic reporting since fiscal 2019.

($1 = 1.4916 Australian dollars) (Reporting by Sameer Manekar in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)