Halliburton Says SEC Subpoena Expands Nigeria Inquiry

NEW YORK -- Halliburton Co. said the Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed documents from it, expanding a probe of payments related to a $5 billion construction contract in Nigeria when U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney led the company, Bloomberg News reported Tuesday.

Houston-based Halliburton, the world's largest oilfield- services company, also said the Nigeria payments are under investigation by Nigerian legislative and executive agencies, as well as by French authorities.

“Our representatives have met with the French magistrate and Nigerian officials and expressed our willingness to cooperate with those investigations,'' Halliburton said in its quarterly filing with the SEC.

The U.S. Justice Department also is investigating the payments, Halliburton said in the filing. French newspaper Le Figaro reported they totaled as much as $150 million. The contract was for construction of a liquefied-natural gas plant by TSKJ, a venture of Halliburton, Technip SA of France, an affiliate of Italy's Eni SpA and JGC Corp. of Japan.

-- NYSSCPA.org News Staff

Posted on 8/4/04