Halliburton Company

The Halliburton Company was founded in 1919 and is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the oil and gas and military services industries.

Under investigation and relocating to Dubai

"Halliburton is under Justice Department Securities and Exchange Commission investigation over allegations of improper dealings in Iraq, Kuwait and Nigeria," Whitley Strieber wrote March 12, 2007.

Halliburton announced on March 12, 2007, that "it would open a corporate headquarters in the United Arab Emirates city of Dubai and move its chairman and chief executive, David J. Lesar, there." [1] "Halliburton will remain a US company subject to US laws, but Dubai has no extradition agreement with the United States, meaning that Mr. Lesar could not be compelled to return to the US to testify, stand trial or serve any sentence related to any Halliburton activities under investigation."

The company will also maintain its existing corporate office in Houston, Texas, "as well as its legal incorporation in the United States, meaning that it will still be subject to domestic laws and regulations." [2]

"According to this 2004 GAO report, the company is incorporated in Delaware, but has (or had at that time) 17 subsidiaries in tax-haven countries." [3]

In February 2007, "Congress was told that $2.7 billion paid to Halliburton and its subsidiaries and subcontractors for work done in Iraq was either excessive or unsupported," Strieber wrote. "Another upcoming investigation that affects Halliburton is the current scandal at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. The Washington Post reported that the Army agreed to privatize the operaton of Walter Reed by awarding a $120 million contract to IAP Worldwide Services, a contractor with connections to KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary."

"Although the announcement of the new Dubai arrangement took many by surprise, Halliburton said that the move was part of a strategy announced in mid-2006 to concentrate its efforts in the Middle East and surrounding areas, where state-owned oil companies represent a growing source of business." [4]

Halliburton's Political Influence

Report: Cheney Facilitated No-Bid Contracts

According to a June 1, 2004, Reuters article, there were "fresh calls on Capitol Hill" for "probes into whether Vice President Dick Cheney helped his old firm get the deals."

A "newly unearthed" March 2003 "Pentagon e-mail says action on a no-bid Halliburton contract to rebuild Iraq's oil industry was 'coordinated' with Cheney's office. Cheney was chief executive officer of the oilfield services giant from 1995 until he joined George W. Bush's presidential ticket in 2000."

"The e-mail, reported by Time magazine [in its June 7, 2004, Issue], provided 'clear evidence' of a relationship between Cheney and multibillion-dollar contracts Halliburton has received for rebuilding Iraq, Sen. Patrick Leahy said," according to Reuters. "'It totally contradicts the vice president's previous assertions of having no contact' with federal officials about Halliburton's Iraq deals, Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said in a conference call set up by John Kerry's presidential campaign. 'It would be irresponsible not to hold hearings.'"

Iraq Reconstruction Corruption

The Wall Street Journal' reported January 23, 2004, that Halliburton "told the Pentagon that two employees took kickbacks valued at up to $6 million in return for awarding a Kuwaiti-based company with lucrative work supplying U.S. troops in Iraq.

The disclosure is the first firm indication of corruption involving U.S.- funded projects in Iraq and raises new questions about Halliburton's dealings there. The company's work already is being scrutinized because of accusations that the U.S. government was overcharged for gasoline under another controversial contract." [5]

Halliburton Company PAC

"Halliburton Co. PAC reports giving out $15,000 in April, [2003] including $4,000 to Speaker Dennis Hastert and Sen. Orrin Hatch. The PAC has $207,089 cash on hand on 4/30. In the last cycle they gave 88.6% of their contributions to Republicans." [6]

U.S. presidential election, 2004

Joel Brinkley, wrote in the February 13, 2004, New York Times that "As the accusations and investigations of the Halliburton Company's federal contracts in Iraq expand in size and number, Democrats say they will use the company's ties to the Bush administration as a campaign issue, and Halliburton is responding with television advertisements implying that it is being unfairly singled out."

History

The following comes from Halliburton's website halliburton.com:

In 1919, Erle P. Halliburton established the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company in Oklahoma. At the same time, brothers George and Herman Brown partnered with their brother-in-law, Dan Root, to found Brown & Root in Texas.

When Erle Halliburton died in 1957, "the Company had 201 offices in 22 states and 20 foreign countries. Five years later, Halliburton acquired Brown & Root following Herman Brown's death. At the time, Brown & Root was renowned as a road construction company, general contractor and builder of the world's first offshore platform in 1947."

Dresser Industries was founded in 1880 by Solomon Dresser "during the nation's first oil boom late in the 19th century. A patent for a cylindrical packer in 1880 launched Dresser's oilfield products manufacturing business...In 1988, Dresser Industries acquired M.W. Kellogg, a pipe fabrication business started by Morris W. Kellogg in 1900. Kellogg created technology for petroleum refining and petrochemical processing and built facilities based on those technologies."

Halliburton's expansion since 1919 included the purchase in 1962 of Brown & Root, "an engineering and construction company" and in September 1998 of Dresser Industries, a "major provider of integrated services and project management for the oil industry." According to Business Week, the merger of Halliburton and Dresser Industries formed the "world's largest oilfield services company. About 63% of 2001 revenues were derived from international activities (14% from the U.K.)." [7]

At the time, the Halliburton executive committee included CEO Dick Cheney and Donald C. Vaughn as vice chairman. Five members of the Dresser board of directors, including William E. Bradford, Lawrence S. Eagleburger, Ray L. Hunt, J. Landis Martin and Jay A. Precourt, joined the Halliburton Board of Directors.[8]

In 1988, Dresser acquired M.W. Kellogg, "a leader in petroleum refining and petrochemical processing, technology, engineering and construction." William E. Bradford, then Halliburton's new Chairman of the Board, stated that

"Halliburton's vision is to be the premier global solutionsprovider for energy services, engineering and construction, and energy equipment. The strategy the company has adopted to achieve this vision is based upon our commitment to integration -- both the internal integration of all business operations, as well as integration of Halliburton's core competencies with those of our customers. We support the vision with 4 key goals to serve our customers -- operational excellence, technological leadership, innovative business relationships and maintenance of a dynamic workforce."[9]

Following the merger with Dresser, Halliburton's worldwide revenues "increased significantly," reaching $13 billion in 2001 ... Dresser's well-known and respected brands -- Sperry-Sun Drilling Services, Baroid Drilling Fluids and Security DBS -- were integrated into Halliburton and the Dresser Equipment Group was divested.

Halliburton's Landmark Graphics supplied information systems and software to help companies find and produce oil and gas. The Engineering and Construction Group was restructured during the first quarter 2001 and the engineering, construction, fabrication and project management capabilities were made part of Halliburton Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR). Halliburton acquired PGS Data Management, a division of Petroleum Geo-Services ASA, in March 2001 and in November 2001, and it also purchased Magic Earth, Inc., a 3-D visualization and interpretation technology company. In 2002, Halliburton sold its 50% interest in Bredero-Shaw and agreed to sell its mono pumping business. Also in 2002, Halliburton sold its 50% interest in European Marine Contractors Ltd.[10]

Halliburton's "compression and pumping product line included two joint ventures": Dresser-Rand, and Ingersoll-Dresser Pump. Ingersoll-Dresser Pump was sold on December 30, 1999, and Dresser-Rand was sold on February 2, 2000. In April 2001, the company sold its remaining Dresser Equipment Group businesses to a group led by First Reserve and Odyssey Investment Partners. Part of the terms of the transaction was that Halliburton would retain a 5.1% equity interest in the Dresser Equipment Group, which has been renamed Dresser, Inc.[11]

In March 2002, Halliburton separated into "two wholly-owned operating subsidiaries": Halliburton's Energy Services Group and KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root) Engineering and Construction ... Halliburton employs 85,000 people in more than 100 countries working in two major operating groups:

"Halliburton's Energy Services Group offers a broad array of products and services to upstream oil and gas customers worldwide, ranging from the manufacturing of drill bits and other downhole and completion tools and pressure pumping services to subsea engineering.

KBR "serves the energy industry by designing and building liquefied natural gas plants, refining and processing plants, production facilities and pipelines, both onshore and offshore. KBR's non-energy business meets the engineering and construction needs of governments and civil infrastructure customers. KBR also provides operations and maintenance for a wide variety of facilities."[12]

During 2002, the Securities and Exchange Commission undertook an investigation of Halliburton's accounting practices, relating to events in 1998, which has not been completed.

Halliburton's "current contract in Kuwait began in September 2002 when Joyce Taylor of the U.S. Army Materiel Command's Program Management Office, arrived to supervise approximately 1,800 Brown and Root employees to set up tent cities that would provide accommodation for tens of thousands of soldiers and officials."[13]

The Center for Cooperative Research says "Manipulating U.S. foreign policy isn¹t the only strategy in Halliburton¹s repertoire of means to securing profits. Another method that has apparently proven extremely successful is doing business with the government and bidding on contracts financed by U.S. dominated bilateral and multilateral aid agencies. Although Dick Cheney had once lashed out at Joseph I. Lieberman saying that his success at Halliburton 'had absolutely nothing to do with' the government, the real facts have shown otherwise." Cooperative Research calls this practice corporate welfare. The organization gives a detailed listing of Halliburton's business dealings in this regard.

"Even without the Cheney conflicts of interest, serious doubts remain about whether a company with a record like Halliburton's should even be eligible to receive government contracts in the first place. This, after all, is a company that has been accused of cost overruns, tax avoidance, and cooking the books and has a history of doing business in countries like Iraq, Iran and Libya." [14]

"Tax Havens: Under Cheney's tenure, the number of Halliburton subsidiaries in offshore tax havens increased from 9 to 44. Meanwhile, Halliburton went from paying $302 million in company taxes in 1998 to getting an $85 million tax refund in 1999."

"Confidential U.N. documents show that Halliburton's affiliates have had broad, and sometimes controversial, dealings with the Iraqi regime. The firms traded with Baghdad for more than a year under Cheney, signing nearly $30 million in contracts before he sold Halliburton's 49 percent stake in Ingersoll Dresser Pump Co. in December 1999 and its 51 percent interest in Dresser Rand to Ingersoll-Rand in February 2000, according to U.N. records." [15]

Only weeks before Halliburton made headlines by announcing it was pulling out of Iran ... the Texas-based oil services firm quietly signed a major new business deal to help develop Tehran’s natural gas fields," Newsweek's Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball wrote in February 2005. "But overlooked in most of the press coverage of the announcement was that [Halliburton CEO David] Lesar’s statement contained enough wiggle room to permit Halliburton to continue participating in the new South Pars project. ... Lesar’s announcement was little more than 'PR damage control,' said one congressional investigator who has closely followed Halliburton’s dealings. 'They’re still acting like the sanctions law are a big joke,' the investigator added."[16]

Damage Control for "Iraq for Sale"

In October 2006, filmmaker Robert Greenwald and his production studio, "Brave New Films" (BNF), released a new documentary that was highly critical of Halliburton's work in Iraq. The movie was titled, "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers."

In late September, O'Dwyer's reported that "Halliburton's KBR engineering and services unit has launched a strike against the documentary. ... Halliburton posted a statement on its website, claiming the movie is 'nothing more than a theory in search of a conspiracy.'" [17]

O'Dwyer's wrote: [18]

BNF tried to interview Halliburton CEO Dave Lesar for the film. It sent four emails and made four phone calls to Cathy Mann, Halliburton's director of communications, attempting to arrange a meeting. She did not respond to any of those contacts, according to BNF. Melissa Norcross, KBR PR supervisor, did return an email to say that Lesar was not available for an interview.

This website emailed Mann, asking why she did not respond to BNF. She referred the site to Halliburton's statement. Norcross could be reached about whether any Halliburton or KBR execs have viewed the movie.

Halliburton Company Subsidiaries

Source: Halliburton profile, Cooperative Research. Also see Wikipedia list.

Organizational Structure

Board of Directors

Corporate Officers [19]

David J. Lesar, President, CEO[20]

PR Staff

Former PR staff

Wendy Hall

Contact Information

For Office Locations
Email: locations@halliburton.com
4100 Clinton Drive
Houston, TX 77020

3600 Lincoln Plaza
500 North Akard Street
Dallas, TX 75201-3391
URL: http://www.halliburton.com/

Related SourceWatch Resources

External Links

Profiles

Halliburton Watch.
Michael Scherer, "The World According to Halliburton," Mother Jones, July 2003; uses flash mapping to identify 70 offshore offices, 12 tax havens, federal contracts, and subsidies.

Halliburton Relocation to Dubai

Jon Steinman, "Questionable Iraq Contracts May Exceed $10 Billion (Update1)," Bloomberg News, February 15, 2007.
Karen Tumulty, "Halliburtonomics," Swampland / TIME Magazine/CNN, March 11, 2007.
David Wighton in New York and Simeon Kerr, "Halliburton to move its head office to Dubai," Financial Times (MSNBC), March 12, 2007.
Clifford Kraus, "Halliburton moving CEO from Houston to Dubai," International Herald Tribune, March 12, 2007.
Whitley Strieber, "Why Halliburton HQ, CEO May be Moving to Dubai," Unknown Country, March 12, 2007.