[Assam] Halliburton's entry to Assam

Thu Jul 5 06:27:59 PDT 2007

Chitta,
  Mr. Brindaban Goswami is not knowledgable enough to comment on Halliburton's business. The original Halliburton company was in oil field services business. It acquired a company called Brown and Root from the engineering and construction business. Brown and Root had done a large number of federal government projects. Later Halliburton and another company called Dresser merged. Dresser had both manufacturing and engineering/construction businesses. One of the groups in the Dresser company was M. W. Kellogg, an internationally known company in Ammonia, Ethylene and Refinery industries. Out of the merger between Halliburton and Dresser was born a group called KBR (Kellogg Brown and Root). Because of Brown and Root's expertise in executing government contracts, KBR were selected to run the defense contracts in Iraq. I'll not comment on the selection process and the accusations of price gouging against KBR.
  Since then Halliburton has spun off the KBR unit and KBR is an independent company now. Halliburton has got back to its original business of oil field services. Despite the bad reputation Halliburton got from the Iraq war, no one can deny that Halliburton has tremendous technical expertise in oil field services. All major international oil companies seek the services of either Halliburton or another company called Schlumberger when they drill for oil and/or gas.
  So there is nothing unusual about ONGC contracting with Halliburton for oil exploration and drilling in Assam. Halliburton moved their headquarters to Dubai because middle east is where oil and gas business will be for the near future and I am sure there is tax benefit to the company. Dubai was selected because it is a modern city and is business friendly.

  So I don't think Mr. Goswami has any reason to cry foul. The contract must be between ONGC and Halliburton, and Halliburton will just do what they are contracted for. If there is any loophole for hanky-panky, that may be in Delhi, not in Dispur.
  Dilip Deka
  Houston, Texas, USA 
  =============================================================

chittaranjan pathak <chittaranjanpathak at yahoo.com> wrote:
    Mahanta da 
  What is your comment on the statement by this Assamese politician on Halliburton. Being a technocrat, American citizen you may be in a better position to comment whether the politicians statement has any basis. Please give us your comment on this.
  Regards
   Halliburton likely to explore oil
Entry may spell doom for NE: AGP
By our Staff Reporter
GUWAHATI, July 1: The Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) has alleged that the entry of US company Halliburton, known for its involvement in building and maintenance of military support bases for US Army in Iraq, into the North East India for oil drilling would spell doom for the region. AGP chief Brindabon Goswami said, A controversial company is being brought into the region. It should be stopped immediately. He urged the Prime Minister to intervene in the matter, halt the ONGCs move to give access to the US oil company into Asom and the North-east and to conduct an inquiry if there was any kind of secret deal (kick back) between any politician of India and the US company. 
Talking to newsmen in the city today, Goswami linked the proposed entry of Halliburton into NE to the East India Companys entry that had cost the country its freedom. 
Talking to newsmen in the city today, Goswami said that non-resident Asomiyas also expressed concern over the entry of Halliburton, and the AGP would hold talks with other political parties and organizations to make a united effort to stop the move. The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) had proposed to bring in Halliburton for oil drilling into the North-east as part of its proposed Rs 90 billion investment in oil and gas projects in the region. Basically an infrastructure building company, Halliburton is engaged in engineering and construction industries in the energy sector and managing logistics for military operations, among its forays into various fields. It had come under heavy criticism for its part in the Iraq war, where it was entrusted with oil fields and providing logistic support to the US Army. The company is alleged to have failed in fixing the oil fields, the primary responsibility assigned to it in Iraq. The AGP claimed that oil drilling was never a
 speciality of the company, and its proposed involvement for the purpose in the North-east smacked of ulterior motives of those who awarded the contracts in ONGC and Government.
There is also an allegation that Hallibuton was engaged in secret business dealings with Saddams regime by selling Iraq oil production equipment and spare parts to get the Iraqi oil fields up and running, Goswami said quoting confidential UN records.

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