Halliburton gets even more work in Iran

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Halliburton shares closed at $38.19, up 35 cents.

Halliburton (HAL: news, chart, profile) spokeswoman Wendy Hall said that she did not know the value of the contract and noted that Oriental had won the contract, not Halliburton. Halliburton's products-and-services division is to help Oriental Kish, which is based in Iran, develop the South Pars natural-gas field.

"Halliburton's business is clearly permissible under applicable U.S. laws and regulations," Hall said. "Also, we are in the service business, not the foreign-policy business. We have followed and will continue to follow applicable laws."

She added that Halliburton has no ownership in Oriental Kish and had played no role in its creation.

Because of Iran's suspected links to terrorism, U.S. companies are severely restricted in their dealings with the country. The 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act limits companies to an investment of $20 million or less a year in Iran's oil and gas sectors, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

However, "separately incorporated foreign subsidiaries are not included in the definition of U.S. persons under the current Iranian executive order," a U.S. Treasury official said. "If a U.S. person is involved, that person may be in violation of the sanctions."

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