Halliburton to Wind Down Iran Operations

[LiviaOlivia]

The New York Times
January 28, 2005
Halliburton to Wind Down Iran Operations
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 3:21 p.m. ET

HOUSTON (AP) -- The oil services conglomerate Halliburton Co. will wind down its operations in Iran and seek to separate its engineering and construction subsidiary KBR from the parent, chairman and CEO Dave Lesar said Friday. Lesar made the disclosures Friday to analysts in a conference call after the company disclosed its fourth-quarter loss narrowed to $201 million from a loss of $947 million in the same period a year ago.

Halliburton does business in Iran through a foreign-owned subsidiary, which is allowed as long as Americans don't participate in or direct that business. But a federal grand jury is investigating whether the Houston-based company or its executives deliberately violated a U.S. ban on trade with Iran. Lesar said services the company provides in Iran aren't illegal, but they are "miniscule" in comparison with the company's other work and that Iran's business environment "is not conducive to our overall strategies and objectives."

~snip~

Lesar told analysts Halliburton will return to Iran if U.S. sanctions are lifted in the future and more of its major customers go there. "It's not a huge market for them," Dan Pickering, an analyst with Pickering Energy Partners, said of the Iran pullout. "Halliburton's probably getting tired of being a punching bag on various issues and Iran was one that they could eliminate and are doing so."

~snip~

This week Halliburton began distributing $2.775 billion in cash to thousands of people who claim to have been harmed by asbestos and silica, and the 59.5 million shares, issued last week, have been placed in a trust to be sold over time. Together, along with notes with a net present value expected to be less than $100 million, the payouts will settle all current and future asbestos and silica claims. As the shares are sold, the proceeds forwarded to claimants will be the value of shares as of the day of sale. Halliburton inherited the claims when the company acquired Dresser Industries Inc. for $7.7 billion in 1998, during Cheney's tenure as CEO.

~snip~


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Earns-Halliburton.html

[cthrumatrix]

what the hell are they doing there anyway? I know it's all about $$$$

but I thought we had sanctions on Iran?

[hector459]

44. Hey, thet got the 9Billion...time to move on.

Besides, it's going to be more dangerous to work in Iraq after these elections than it was before the elections.

[VegasWolf]

2. Wonder what the name of Halliburton's shell company will be? n/t

[Wickerman]

3. OMG! Halliburton being investigated for treasonous activity?

Halliburton does business in Iran through a foreign-owned subsidiary, which is allowed as long as Americans don't participate in or direct that business. But a federal grand jury is investigating whether the Houston-based company or its executives deliberately violated a U.S. ban on trade with Iran. Lesar said services the company provides in Iran aren't illegal, but they are "miniscule" in comparison with the company's other work and that Iran's business environment "is not conducive to our overall strategies and objectives."

ho-hum - just another day in the life of the friends of Dick Cheney. :eyes:

[Old and In the Way]

7. Hey, Dick was trading with Saddam Hussien in 1998.......

circumvented US embargo's to do it. Once a war profiteer, always a war profiteer.

Sounds to me they're leaving before the bombing starts. But they'll be back when we start awarding rebuild contracts for Iran......

[displacedtexan]

4. Be afraid. Halliburton pulls out, and...

our invading forces move in?

The timing is decidedly specious.

[Mandate My Ass]

8. GMTA

Halliburton pulls out until the bombs begin to drop. Then the no-bid contracts start up immediately afterward.

Nothing to see here....

[Strelnikov_]

9. That's My Read

They were told "the children have got the sniffles"

[pnutchuck]

11. My thoughts exactly!

And with SF moving in to secure the area and rec on Iran's "Nuclear Weapons Program".

[Lerkfish]

12. my thoughts exactly

[Minstrel Boy]

13. That's it exactly. n/t

[jjtss]

17. Haliburton's actions are

right up there with an embassy closure. Well Iran did say they were ready for a military action with the US. Moving right along toward 6/6/06.

[WritersBlock]

23. Exactly the first thought I had.

It ain't about losing money or Brown & Root at all.

[mordarlar]

35. exactly my first thought

[global1]

5. Sanctions - Smanctions - They Would Stay And Disregard Sanctions But ....

they're pulling their people out in anticipation for *Co's "Shock & Awe Iran Tour". They got inside info - they heard from the guy in the snowmobiler's outfit.

[NYC]

19. Dressed in...typically wears to operate a snow blower.

Just pointing this out, because a snowmobiler may dress better.

From the Washington Post:

The vice president, however, was dressed in the kind of attire one typically wears to operate a snow blower.

Cheney stood out in a sea of black-coated world leaders because he was wearing an olive drab parka with a fur-trimmed hood. It is embroidered with his name. It reminded one of the way in which children's clothes are inscribed with their names before they are sent away to camp. And indeed, the vice president looked like an awkward boy amid the well-dressed adults.

Like other attendees, the vice president was wearing a hat. But it was not a fedora or a Stetson or a fur hat or any kind of hat that one might wear to a memorial service as the representative of one's country. Instead, it was a knit ski cap, embroidered with the words "Staff 2001." It was the kind of hat a conventioneer might find in a goodie bag.

[Neecy]

6. rut-roh

Ten to one they're clearing out of Iran on a tip from their salaried employee, the Vice-President. Must...get...out...before...the...airstrikes...begin...

[hippiechick]

10. Either that or they've finished 'researc' for their proposal ....

and now Dick's ready to start rolling the no-bids their way ...


:scared:

[fryguy]

14. winding down oil operations in iran and preparing for war operations

let the no-bid contracting begin!

[Oreo]

15. I had a feeling this would happen

When the Iran stuff started heating up and it came out that they're admittedly doing business there I figured that before we attack, Halliburton would pull out. I didn't think it would really happen but... February's a new month... Iraq's now free! NEXT!!!

These flyovers are probably trying to force a reaction. Bush knows he won't get any support from anyone other than maybe Ukraine and Afghanistan... and oh yeah... the new Iraqi government. It's a coalition of the willing!

[cosmicdot]

16. fwiw side story: Dan Pickering is often quoted on things Halliburton

``It's not a huge market for them,'' Dan Pickering, an analyst with Pickering Energy Partners, said of the Iran pullout. ``Halliburton's probably getting tired of being a punching bag on various issues and Iran was one that they could eliminate and are doing so.'' Halliburton is a 'punching bag'? Is that what it is?

~ wondering if asking his 'analysis' of Halliburton is similar to having someone from the Heritage Foundation on Faux analyze things Bu$h**-Cheney ... or Armstrong Williams to chat about Bu$h**Cheney education 'reform' ~ back-scratching

He's, also, director of research at Simmons and Co., a Houston-based investment bank that focuses on energy investments, and self-acclaimed largest investment banking practice serving the energy industry ... and an analyst with Pickering Energy Partners, a broker; plus, Oil service/E&P analyst and sector fund manager at Fidelity Investments; and, Engineering and finance at ARCO Alaska, Inc. http://www.pickeringenergy.com/

"August 30, 2004 Halliburton announced the sale of parts of its well testing business to Power Well Service Holdings LLC , a unit of First Reserve Corporation. Simmons & Company International represented Halliburton in this transaction." http://www.simmonsco-intl.com/research.aspx?Type=news


Googling Dan Pickering + Halliburton came up with a lot of 'hits'

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLD,GGLD:2004-33,GGLD:en&q=Dan+Pickering+and+halliburton

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~$$$$~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(wonder if he's 'kin' to right-wing 'judge' Charles Pickering of Mississippi who ** shrub is keen on getting on a Fed bench? the world has been proven a small world afterall on other occasions)

[NYC]

18. Clearing out before the invasion.

I see I'm not the only one who thinks so.

[librechik]

20. Red alert--bombs fall right after they pull out! n/t

[Name removed]

21. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Lerkfish]

27. self-deleted

thanks mods!

[aikido15]

24. That's a given..

[oppositionmember]

22. Hmmm. So Halliburton is losing money?

Creative accounting at its best, with the help of offshore subsidiaries. I guess the profit got outsourced to the Cayman Islands.

[snippy]

25. They'll be back. After the shock and awe. And so it goes. n/t

[annabanana]

26. kick

[ElectroPrincess]

28. These wars WILL end when the USA runs out of

willing "Cannon Fodder."

I hope and pray people resist the impending draft. The only people who should be sent overseas are the blood thirsty Neo-Cons and their brethren.

[DesEtoiles]

29. Halliburton: Iran's not worth it

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3014234


Halliburton: Iran's not worth it

Company cites U.S. sanctions, bad business climate in decision to pull out
By DAVID IVANOVICH
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle


WASHINGTON - Houston's Halliburton Co. has decided to pull the plug on Iran.


After facing inquiries from a Houston grand jury, a Senate panel and the nation's media into its business dealings in the rogue state, Halliburton has decided the $30 million to $40 million worth of business it was doing annually in Iran wasn't worth all the trouble.


"The business environment currently in Iran is not conducive to our overall strategies and objectives," Halliburton Chief Executive Officer Dave Lesar said Friday.


But Lesar noted: "If the U.S. sanctions are lifted in the future or more of our major customers go there, we will return to this market."

[DS1]

30. Assets could get bombed, investors would cry foul

:eyes:

[Gloria]

31. They'll return AFTER the bombing ends.....

eom

[MADem]

32. TRANSLATION: We have to leave, they're ON to us

You know damn right well a chunk of their roster working the Iran contracts had a relationship with a certain government entity. The Iranians, clever fellows they, no doubt figured that out too. They couldn't be effective, as they were probably monitored so closely that they couldn't take a crap without Achmed knowing what they had for dinner.

I still think, if BushCo wants oil, he'd have a far easier time knocking over Saudi Arabia. Pen and pacify the population, isolate the oil fields, use the ruling family as convenient scapegoats, allow the clerics to live only if they accept a limited role (but with full authority over the holy places--perhaps they can also get some cash doing mercenary enforcement work for the Bush crew), provide the trouble-making countries like Syria (no oil), Turkey (no oil) and Egypt (no oil) with OIL, dependent on their ability to seal borders and bump off troublemakers. Performance-based rewards!!

Iran is one of the most complex nations in southwest Asia. It's massive, the cities are heavily populated, the citizenry is knowledgeable and passionate. They have a very strong NATIONAL identity, too. It is a source of enormous PRIDE that westerners tend to underestimate. They are PERSIAN, not Arab, not Afghan, not Pakistani. They view themselves as the cradle of civilization. ... Omar Khayam, and what not.

Iran is just TOO HARD. Saudi Arabia, now, that's easy. How to break the news to Bandar Bush, though? Ah, I've got it!!! Put him in CHARGE!!! Wouldn't that be something, the son of a Prince and a Nubian slave, leader of the desert kingdom!! How very Equal Opportunity....it's what BushCo does best--find a minority toady, and pump them up. Who knows, maybe Bandar is tired of always being a bridesmaid, and never a bride!

[jazzjunkysue]

33. It's not like them to leave before the cake is cut....

[daleo]

34. PNAC plan to invade Iran - Best Evidence Ever. n/t

[Moderator]

36. kick

.,.

[qwertyMike]

37. Halliburton to pull out of Iran

Several American firms have been able to legally work in the country in the face of a US trade embargo, through foreign subsidiaries.

Halliburton, once run by US vice president Dick Cheney, said its Cayman Island unit secured revenues of $30m-$40m (£16-£21m) from Iran in 2003.

It said it was winding down its work due to a poor business environment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4217703.stm

Isn't Bobby Fischer being extradited for breaking the same rules by playing chess for money (earnings) in Iran?

[proud patriot]

Insert soundtrack to the movie "JAWS" here

:grr:

[TomClash]

Fischer played in the former Yugoslavia, not Iran

[DieboldMustDie]

Fischer should have used a foreign subsidiary...

then it would have been okay. :shrug:

[qwertyMike]

You're right

But it was a friggin' chess game. Poor Guy.

He should have incorporated himself in the Caymans.

[TomClash]

Fischer is a racist jerk . . .

but I agree - it was chess and they turned it into a crime.

[katinmn]

They're just trying to avoid legal action for ripping off Americans

"The company is planning to sell or float its KBR subsidiary, which is being investigated for alleged overbilling on fuel and food service contracts from the Pentagon in Iraq."

[floda]

but but they won a contract a few weeks ago?

How can they say its poor business now?

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=3&article_id=11695

Tuesday, January 11, 2005
Halliburton wins Iran gas contract despite sanctions
U.S. firm seals deal through subsidiary company

By Agence France Presse (AFP)




TEHRAN: Iran said Monday that U.S. oil giant Halliburton had won a major contract to drill for gas, despite U.S. sanctions against foreign investment in the country's energy industry. "Halliburton and Oriental Kish are the final winners of the tender for drilling South Pars phases 9 and 10," Pars Oil and Gas Company managing director Akbar Torkan said, according to state television. An unidentified Pars company board member said the deal for the gas fields in the Gulf off the south coast of Iran was worth about $310 million. He said Halliburton had not directly signed the contract but that it had offered its services via Oriental Kish. Under a law introduced in 1996, the United States threatens sanctions on both American and foreign companies investing more than $40 million in Iran's petroleum industry. Halliburton, once chaired by US Vice President Dick Cheney, has come under investigation in the United States for its dealings with Iran through a Cayman Islands subsidiary. The U.S. broke diplomatic ties with Tehran after Iranian university students stormed its mission in Tehran in 1980 and took diplomats hostage for 444 days. The United States also accuses Iran of covertly trying to develop nuclear weapons, a charge vehemently denied by Tehran.

Iran, OPEC's second largest oil exporter, also has the world's second largest gas reserves. Phases 9 and 10 of South Pars, operated jointly by South Korean and Iranian companies, are expected to produce 50 million cubic meters of natural gas, 80,000 barrels of condensates and 400 tons of sulfur a day. In addition, the phases are expected to produce each year one million tons of ethane for petrochemical feedstock and 1.05 million tons of liquefied petroleum gas for export. Iran hopes to boost gas output from 110 billion cubic meters a year in 2000 to 292 billion cubic meters in 2010. Gas accounts for about one third of Iran's domestic energy consumption. - AFP

[Dover]

...only to return to Iran after the U.S. invasion....to build it back

naturally.

[Strelnikov_]

They Were Told "The Children Have Got The Sniffles"

Like S. Hersch alluded to, late spring or early summer.

[Rex]

poor business environment

I'll have to add that to my word bank.

poor business environment - to take the money and run before the cops show up.

[RockStar]

1. Yeah they stolen from Iraq now they are getting ready to go to IRAN

[Rabrrrrrr]

38. Hmm....pulling out in time for the US to invade? I mean, liberate?

And then they go back in and make 10 times what they were making.

[Dark]

39. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Halliburton to pull out of Iran !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4217703.stm

US energy services company Halliburton is to end its operations in Iran after existing contracts come to an end.

It said it was winding down its work due to a poor business environment.

Tension has been mounting between the two nations as the US suspects Iran of developing a nuclear weapons programme.

Meanwhile, a recent Iranian gas field contract won by Halliburton sparked criticism in the US.

[7th_Sephiroth]

40. pull the halliburton employees into ultra cushy heavily secured

hotels for 3 months while the troops go and werch all the equipment, and send them back in to fix everything for another 900 billion halliburton windfall

[qanda]

41. Don't worry they'll be back after the US invades

Another no-bid contract.

[Redstone]

42. Well, the people who run Halliburton are no dummies...

They're getting out just ahead of:



But they'll be back to clean up afterward.

Redstone

[twaddler01]

43. Nice picture...

put things in perspective without having to use words.

:toast: