Halliburton's Activities in Nigeria Frozen

Halliburton's Activities in Nigeria Frozen
Le Nouvel Observateur

Tuesday 21 September 2004

The authorities are accusing the American oil group's local subsidiary of negligence in the disappearance of two radioactive devices.
Nigeria prohibited the American oil services group Halliburton's local subsidiary from running public contracts and froze its current activities in the country, accusing it of negligence in the disappearance of two radioactive devices.

"The federal government has decided on an embargo against the activity of Halliburton Energy Services Nigeria Limited (HENSL) following negligence which led to the loss of two sources of radioactive ionization in Nigeria in 2002," indicated a presidential communiqué.

This communiqué refers to radiation emitting devices that allow oil well measurements to be taken.

Refusal to Cooperate

"Moreover, the company, among other infractions, has refused to cooperate with the governmental authorities to guarantee the return of these radiation sources to Nigeria and to find a solution to this affair," adds the text.

This embargo was approved by President Olusegun Obasanjo in person, his services' communiqué emphasized, offering the further particulars that all contracts concluded between HENSL and the ministries, government agencies and para-governmental agencies are frozen until further notice.

Halliburton, which is active in the oil and gas sectors in Nigeria, acknowledged at the beginning of the month that members of one of its Nigerian subsidiaries had "considered" bribing Nigerian officials, but had found no proof that those bribes were effected.

Halliburton, which up until 2000 was under the direction of present United States Vice President Dick Cheney, has opened an internal inquiry into the conditions under which a natural gas liquefaction plant was built in Nigeria by TSKJ, a company in which Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) holds a 25% participation.

KBR is associated in TSKJ with the French Technip group, the Japanese JGC Corporation, and Snamprogetti Netherlands, a subsidiary of the Italian oil group Eni. Each of these companies holds a 25% share of TSKJ.

The French and American Justice Departments as well as the American Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) have opened inquiries into this case.



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