Outrage over Halliburton’s decision to relocate in Dubai

HALLIBURTON’S decision to move its base from Texas to Dubai has sparked a political firestorm as Senator Hillary Clinton and other top Democrats expressed outrage at the oil services giant.

Halliburton, headed by Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000 before he became vice president, said it was relocating to the United Arab Emirates to capitalise on the Gulf region’s booming energy market.

“Does this mean they are going to quit paying taxes in America?” asked Clinton, a US presidential candidate.

“They get a lot of government contracts. Is this going to affect the investigations that are going on? Because we have a lot of evidence of misuse of government contracts and how they have cheated the American soldier and cheated the American taxpayer.”

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said: “It’s an example of corporate greed at its worst. At the same time they’ll be avoiding US taxes, I’m sure they won’t stop insisting on taking their profits in cold hard US cash.”

Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan said he would seek a congressional review of the announcement.

The firm and its former KBR subsidiary, which is being spun off, have endured several contracting controversies and investigations since Halliburton was awarded a no-bid $2.4 billion (€11.81bn) contract to supply the US military on the eve of the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

KBR agreed last year to pay the US government $8 million (€6.06m) to settle fraud claims related to an Army supply contract.

Halliburton spokeswoman Melissa Norcross said, however, that Halliburton would still remain incorporated in the United States and that there would be no layoffs as a result of its move. “As such, we anticipate absolutely no tax benefits from this decision,” she said.