Controversies
The company has become the object of several controversies involving the 2003 Iraq War and the company's ties to Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney retired from the company during the 2000 U.S. presidential election campaign with a severance package worth $36 million.[39] As of 2004, he had received $398,548 in deferred compensation from Halliburton while Vice President.[40] Cheney was chairman and CEO of Halliburton Company from 1995 to 2000 and has received stock options from Halliburton.[41]
Bunnatine Greenhouse, a civil servant with 20 years of contracting experience, had complained to Army officials on numerous occasions that Halliburton had been unlawfully receiving special treatment for work in Iraq, Kuwait and the Balkans. Criminal investigations were opened by the U.S. Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Pentagon's inspector general.
In one Greenhouse's supposed examples of abuse, he said that military auditors caught Halliburton overcharging the Pentagon for fuel deliveries into Iraq. She also complained that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's office took control of every aspect of Halliburton's $7 billion Iraqi oil/infrastructure contract. After her testimony, Greenhouse was demoted for poor performance.[42] Greenhouse's attorney, Michael Kohn, stated in the New York Times that "she is being demoted because of her strict adherence to procurement requirements and the Army's preference to sidestep them when it suits their needs.[43]
Halliburton is the only company mentioned by Osama bin Laden in an April 2004 tape in which he claims that "this is a war [in Afghanistan] that is benefiting major companies with billions of dollars."[44]
[edit] Sale of KBR
On April 15, 2006, Halliburton filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission to sell up to 20 percent of its KBR stock on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "KBR", as part of an eventual plan for KBR to be a separate company from Halliburton.[45]
In November 2006, Halliburton began selling its stake in KBR, its major subsidiary, and by February 2007 had completely sold off the subsidiary. In June 2007, several days after Stewart Bowen, the Special Inspector General, released a new report, the Army announced that KBR would share another $150 billion contract with two other contractors, Fluor and Dyncorp, over the next ten years.[46]
[edit] Environmental issues
In 2002, Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) reports were completed to measure the amount of chemicals emitted from Halliburton's Harris County, Texas facility. The TRI is a publicly available EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and waste management activities reported annually by certain industries as well as federal facilities. The facility had 230 TRI air releases in 2001 and 245 in 2002.[47]
On June 7, 2006 Halliburton's Farmington, New Mexico facility created a toxic cloud that forced people to evacuate from their homes.[48]
Halliburton may also be implicated[49] in the oil spills in the Timor Sea off Australia in August 2009 and in the gulf of Mexico in April 2010 for improper cementing. An investigation is underway as to the cause of the Australia spill.
[edit] Baghdad incident
In accordance with the law of armed conflict and to maintain non-combatant status, Halliburton does not arm its truck drivers. Trucks are often the target of insurgent attacks. On September 20, 2005, a convoy of four Halliburton trucks was ambushed north of Baghdad. All four trucks were struck by improvised explosive devices and were disabled. Their US National Guard escort was thought to have abandoned the disabled vehicles, leaving the drivers defenseless. Three of the four truck drivers were killed by the insurgents while the surviving driver, Preston Wheeler, caught the event on video. Although the trucks had military camouflage paint, the drivers were civilian. The US military returned to the scene 45 minutes later.[50] However, in a statement by senior military officials in Iraq, an investigation revealed that troops did not abandon the civilians and they were all exiting the "kill zone" during the ambush.[51]
[edit] Deepwater Horizon oil spill
Halliburton was responsible for cementing the plug in the oil well. Improper cementing may have caused the original blowout.[52]
[edit] Subsidiaries
As of Halliburton's latest form 10-K filings with the SEC, Exhibit 21.1 lists the following as subsidiaries of Halliburton Co.[53]:
Breswater Marine Contracting B.V. (Netherlands)
DII Industries, LLC (United States)
Easy Well Solutions AS (Norway)
Halliburton Affiliates, LLC (United States)
Halliburton AS (Norway)
Halliburton Canada Holdings, Inc. (United States)
Halliburton Company Germany G.m.b.H. (Germany)
Halliburton de Mexico, S. de R.L. de C.V. (Mexico)
Halliburton Energy Cayman Islands Limited (Cayman Islands)
Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. (United States)
Halliburton Group Canada Inc. (Canada)
Halliburton Group Holdings (1) Company (Canada)
Halliburton Group Holdings (2) Company (Canada)
Halliburton Holdings (No. 3) (United Kingdom)
Halliburton International, Inc. (United States)
Halliburton Latin America S.A. (Panama)
Halliburton Manufacturing and Services Limited (United Kingdom)
Halliburton Netherlands Operations Cooperatie (Netherlands)
Halliburton Norge Holding AS (Norway)
Halliburton Norway Holdings C.V. (Netherlands)
Halliburton Overseas Limited (Cayman Islands)
Hobbymarkt Delft BV (Netherlands)
Kellogg Energy Services, Inc. (United States)
Landmark Graphics Corporation (United States)
Oilfield Telecommunications, LLC. (United States)
[edit] Headquarters
Halliburton headquarters (North Belt Office) in north Houston
Halliburton's headquarters (North Belt office) is located in Harris County, in northern Houston, Texas, near George Bush Intercontinental Airport.[54][55]
Halliburton had its headquarters in Dallas, Texas from 1961 to 2003.[55] The company moved its headquarters from the Southland Life Building in Dallas to 50,648 square feet (4,705.4 m2) of space in Lincoln Plaza in Downtown Dallas in 1985.[56] 20 employees worked in Halliburton's headquarters in Dallas.[57]
Halliburton planned to move its headquarters to Houston in 2002.[58] Halliburton, which signed its lease to occupy a portion of 5 Houston Center in Downtown Houston in 2002,[59] moved its headquarters there by July 2003.[60] Halliburton occupied 26,000 square feet (2,400 m2) of space on the 24th floor in 5 Houston Center.[55]
In 2009 Halliburton announced that it planned to move its headquarters to the North Belt offices in Houston. In addition it planned to consolidate operations at its Westchase and North Belt offices.[61] The move occurred in 2009.[54] The 90 acres (36 ha) North Belt complex will house 2,200 employees. Halliburton planned to add a research and development facility with laboratories, a new cafeteria, a childcare center, two additional parking garages, and fitness and wellness centers for employees.[55] The plans for the North Belt office had been delayed by one year, and Halliburton expects completion in 2013. The construction of the North Belt administration building is scheduled to begin in late 2010.[62]
According to Marilyn Bayless, the president of the North Houston Greenspoint Chamber of Commerce, in 2003, Halliburton had planned to move operations out of the North Belt office because other area school districts offered the freeport tax exemptions while the Aldine Independent School District (AISD), where the North Belt office is located, did not. In order to attract businesses, in May 2003, AISD began offering the same tax exemption as other jurisdictions. Subsequently, Halliburton retained the North Belt office.[63]
[edit] Corporate Giving
According to the company, Halliburton’s total corporate giving for 2009, including cash and in-kind donations, was more than $572 million. In addition, Halliburton employees volunteered more than 49,000 hours during the year.[citation needed]
