Halliburton comes under scrutiny for announced move to Dubai
March 12, 2007
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), the US oil services firm that was headed by US Vice President Dick Cheney for the last half of the 1990s, has announced that it will move its world headquarters from Houston, Texas, to the Persian Gulf state of Dubai.
The news of the move has touched off criticism from some politicians and speculation that the move has to do with official questions in the US about its no-bid contracts in Iraq. House of Representatives member Henry Waxman, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, could call hearings to look into the implications of the move, according to an aide to Mr. Waxman.
Halliburton says that the move is an effort to take better advantage of business opportunities in the Middle East. It said the company would retain its business registration in the United States, but it plans on listing on a Middle Eastern stock exchange once its move is made.
The company’s chief executive said that it sees greater opportunity in the eastern hemisphere, as opposed to the western hemisphere. But its KBR engineering and military services division, which Halliburton is currently in process of splitting off, has been the target of several investigations into its billing practices in Iraq, where it is the Pentagon’s biggest contractor. KBR has been paid over $20 billion dollars so far for its work in Iraq since the war there began.