WASHINGTON— THE US oil service company Halliburton says it has uncovered information suggesting that the TSKJ consortium it is part of since 1998 considered bribing Nigerian officials to win a lucrative natural gas project.
Halliburton said in a statement late Wednesday that information was recently uncovered suggesting that, at least 10 years ago, TSKJ members mulled payments to Nigerian officials.
The company also said that “commencing in 1995, TSKJ entered into a series of agency agreements in connection” with the Nigerian Bonny Island project — a natural-gas liquefaction plant.
Already, the House of Representatives has invited the chairman/Chief Executive officer of Halliburton, Dave Leser; Mr. Gilbert Chagoni; former NLNG chairman, Alhaji M. D. Yusufu, and former oil ministers Chief Don Etiebet and Chief Dan Etete to come and shed light on the scandal.
It also resolved that Halliburton, TSKJ and their sister companies be barred from new contracts until further notice.
TSKJ is a private limited liability company registered in Madeira, Portugal comprising Technip of France, Snamprogetti Netherlands, an affiliate of the Italian group ENI, JGC Corporation of Japan, and Kellogg Brown and Root, which was acquired by Halliburton in 1998.
The Wall Street Journal said yesterday that internal notes found by Halliburton suggest consortium officials discussed bribing Nigerian officials to win their support and ensure that TSKJ won the Bonny Island bid.
“There is much that we presently do not know. But we will continue aggressively to investigate this matter regardless of how old this conduct may be, even though so far the new information appears to relate to conduct that took place almost entirely before Halliburton acquired M.W. Kellogg,” Halliburton said in its statement.
As part of its continuing cooperation with governmental authorities, Halliburton said it has passed on the new information to the United States Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the French magistrate investigating these matters, and is currently in the process of transmitting it to the appropriate Nigerian officials.
The Wall Street Journal said yesterday that the information was contained in notes found in an office credenza during a sweep of Halliburton and TSKJ offices by company-hired investigators.
Halliburton’s lawyers said they have conducted an extensive investigation in the United States, Britain and Portugal, interviewing more than 50 current and former employees.
The 1998 merger between Halliburton and Dresser Industries Inc., which led the TSKJ consortium through its Kellog unit, was overseen by Halliburton’s then chief executive and current US Vice President, Dick Cheney.
