Halliburton To Move Headquarters To Dubai
Halliburton, Vice President Dick Cheney’s alma mater, is going to move its headquarters to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates:
Halliburton, the big energy services company, said today 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.The company will maintain its existing corporate office here as well as its incorporation in the United States.
Although the announcement of the new Dubai arrangement took many by surprise, Halliburton said the move was part of a plan 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.
Halliburton, which was led by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000, is currently in the process of spinning off KBR, its military-contracting unit, to focus on its business of drilling wells and maintaining fields for oil companies. The company did not say what implications the Dubai development might have for its Pentagon contracts.
The announcement about the Dubai move, which Halliburton made at a regional energy conference in Bahrain, comes at a time when the company is being investigated by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegations of improper dealings in Iraq, Kuwait and Nigeria. Halliburton has also paid out billions in settlements in asbestos litigation.
But the Times notes that it’s highly likely the move is due to business motives, not legal ones:
Halliburton officials did not elaborate today on what the shift of its top executive might mean. The move seemed to raise questions about whether Halliburton might gain tax advantages or other benefits from shifting into a foreign country with pro-business regulations.
On the face of it, the decision to move Mr. Lesar abroad appeared to have less to do with unwelcome headlines than with shifting epicenters for big energy construction projects and exploration from mature fields in North America toward the Middle East and Africa. The move especially underscores the arrival of Dubai as a center for energy deal-making and commerce, a role once solidly filled by Houston.
Company officials put out the news via email and various additional explanations. Note this report from Bloomberg:
“Growing our business here will bring more balance to Halliburton’s overall portfolio,” Lesar, 53, said in the statement. “This is a market that is more heavily weighted toward oil exploration and production opportunities.” Dubai is on the Persian Gulf and is part of the United Arab Emirates, the fourth-biggest OPEC crude-oil producer.The move won’t affect Halliburton’s legal status as a U.S. company, spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said in an e-mailed statement.
“As companies usually refer to the CEO’s office as the corporate headquarters, that’s what we are doing,” Norcross said. “We will maintain our company’s legal registration in the United States and we are not leaving Houston.”
No matter: expect this move to raise a lot of questions and perhaps generate more controversy.
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16 Responses to “Halliburton To Move Headquarters To Dubai”
Just when you thought they couldn’t get more evil.
Can’t wait to see right wignutosphere go… nuts. This is the same country that was thought to be too Islamic to take over our port security after all, now playing host to Halliburton. Those are some mighty big military contracts Halliburton holds. Mighty big.
I can’t wait to hear it – but then, I really don’t need to wait. It won’t get much of a mention on the Right I’d wager, though I’ll admit I haven’t checked to see.
I’ve been to Dubai many times -it’s a great place. I’d gladly trade it for the dump that is Houston any day. And lets face it – when it comes to oil, Dubai is much more of a player than Houston these days. It seems like a sound business decision to me, but there are so many people tied up in Cheney-Halliburton conspiracy theories that I’m sure it will get a lot of play in the media, particularly the liberal media.
The first thing I thought was that it was appropriate. The second was to wonder about the tax implications.
George Soros is probably behind it. He just bought two million shares of Haliburton, after all.
Entropy…you mentioned the liberal media’s interest in this story.
It will be interesting to see if the Soros funded Media Matters for America, or CREW, include this as part of their outrages of the day this week…given their patron’s new investment in Haliburton hahahahahahaha….
“I’ve been to Dubai many times -it’s a great place.”
A great place for toursits and business men doesn’t necessarily have to be a great place to plan and manage sensitive operations directly effecting the security of US troops, Entropy. Apples and oranges.
“The second was to wonder about the tax implications.”
Don’t forget the third point, Jim: What about subpoenas and arrest warrants? Can they be successfully delivered in Dubai, or is it a safe haven for white collar criminals hiding from US jurisprudence?
I can neither laugh nor be cynical about this. What I see is more jobs leaving.
“The company will maintain its existing corporate office here as well as its incorporation in the United States.”
Hmm, I guess this answers Jim’s question. The taxes will still be paid in the US.
If you add the Cheneys new ‘excuse to move’ to Dubai with the Bushs extensive ‘land purchase’ in Paraguay one might consider looking into and updating our list of countries with extridition treaties.
Dave,
You seem to suggest the move could potentially damage “sensitive operations directly effecting [sic] the security of US troops.” Do you have any evidence for that or is it just speculation?
Dubai is great for any number of reasons. I don’t see working there as a security risk. Even the US Navy pulls its ships into the nearby port of Jebal Ali so sailors can get some R&R there.
“Do you have any evidence for that or is it just speculation?”
Well, I think the same concerns the US coast guard, among many reasonable voices, had about the port deal apply here, too (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/26/national/main1346503.shtml ). The US simply can’t guarantee the same level of security against spying and infiltration in a foreign country where militant islamists may easily blend into the population and where US agencies don’t have authority than in the US. You certainly won’t state here that it makes no difference if the logistics center for the US army is located in the US or in Dubai, no? Or do you doubt that managing the supply for US troops in Iraq is a sensitive business? Hmm…
And the name is Gray, not Dave, Entropy. I didn’t star in ’2001′…
Lol, sorry Gray – I don’t know how I got that so wrong!
Well, if Halliburton thinks it’s good for their operations, who am I to question it? I’m sure they looked at the security situation closely before coming to this decision.
TAX-ES TAX-ES TAX-ES
Soros doesn’t mind a tax break any more than the oil boys.
Maybe it doesn’t look so bad if a Dubai company rather than a “US” company starts doing more business in Iran. Heh, heh
“Well, if Halliburton thinks it’s good for their operations, who am I to question it? I’m sure they looked at the security situation closely before coming to this decision.”
Well, Entropy, I’m a cynical kind of guy, and I won’t take any public announcement of Halliburton at face value. Hell, this is the rea of global communication, it almost doesn’t matter anymore where a headquarter is situate. Why go through the complicated and costly effort to relocate to a place almost on the othr side of the globe? This project comes with some serious drawbacks for the management. Moving from the US to Dubai, with their families, certainly isn’t something the executives took lightly. But the explanation for this bold move doesn’t really hold water. Isn’t the majority of Halliburton clients in the US? It were the jobs for the DoD that provided the huge profit of the last years, not some middle east governments.
So, no, this explanation stinks. There have to be other reasons behind the relocation, and the first thing that comes into almost everybody’s mind are those reports about Halliburton’s involvement in contract fraud.