Gulf oil well disaster could mean explosive profits for Halliburton

The oil well explosion in the Gulf of Mexico could be a well-timed and profitable accident for Halliburton, the global oil company with the famous connection to former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. Just eight days before the uber-Valdez accident, Houston-based Halliburton acquired Boots & Coots Services, also based in Houston, in a $240 million cash and stock deal.

Boots & Coots, which uses the graphic of a burning oil well to represent the ampersand in its name, specializes in "pressure control and well intervention services." In other words, when an oil well explodes, Boots & Coots can step in and help remedy the problem. In a release, Jerry Winchester, Boots & Coots president and CEO, says "Combining the resources of both companies creates the premier intervention company across the globe.”

While Halliburton's timing of the acquisition could be chalked up to luck, some members of Congress are asking questions. Reps. Henry A. Waxman (D-Beverly Hills) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.), have asked Halliburton provide all documents relating to "the possibility or risk of an explosion or blowout" at the rig in the Gulf, according to a report in the LA Times.

http://www.examiner.com/x-38929-Kansas-City-Business-Commentary-Examiner~y2010m5d3-Gulf-oil-well-may-make-for-explosive-profits-for-Halliburton





MMarc Edwards, Halliburton’s Senior Vice President of Completion and Production, said, “Optimizing economic production levels in both mature assets and unconventional gas resources requires increasing levels of pressure control and well intervention. The combination of Halliburton’s global hydraulic workover and coiled tubing deployed technologies, together with Boots & Coots’ well intervention and pressure control services will help us improve full life cycle returns for our customers. This is a natural addition to Halliburton’s extensive completion and production enhancement portfolio, further enabling integrated project workflows with improved reservoir recoveries”

Under the merger agreement, Boots & Coots stockholders will receive $3.00 per share for each share of Boots & Coots common stock they hold, comprised of $1.73 in cash and $1.27 in Halliburton common stock, subject to election, proration features and an exchange ratio based on Halliburton’s five-day average share price immediately prior to closing. The Boards of Directors of both Halliburton and Boots & Coots have approved the transaction, which is expected to close in the summer of 2010, subject to regulatory approvals, approval by Boots & Coots’ stockholders and other conditions.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=93906&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1411855&highlight=

WOW!!!!!!!! Dick Cheney must have ESP!!!!!!!!!!

:wow:

company that has NO ties to Bush/Cheney, even if it would be a foreign company. After all, repubs think outsourcing to foreign countries is a good thing when they do it and there has to be someone who is reputable, knows what they're doing and isn't tied to Cheney.

... to help clean up the mess and compensate the victims.

cleaned up the mess?

BP is. BP could hire them for their expertise, if they wanted.

I've been hearing some rattling out of BP that they will drag Halliburton and Trans-Ocean into their liability mess. I wouldn't be surprised to see BP sue them and try to pass the blame where they can. Also...the money for the clean-up that Haliburton is doing comes from BP, so if we do pay it will be at the pump, not from the tax coffers.

People wonder why crashcart and his big mouthed spawn haven't been seen lately...they're too busy watching the stock prices.

Sestak a job..... She actually went there - when it's newly relevant to investigate her own father about, well, everything. I can't believe the balls on these Cheneys - they still hold so much unchecked power and they are still undermining our country. Sickening. I want Cheney arrested so badly it hurts.

Keep Cheney hidden, four days after let it be known Cheney HAS BEEN in Middle East. NO indication if he has been there over four days or under four hours.

Then, quietly watch Cheney make money of insurance companies protected by tax dollar rich-man socialism.

and sending their stock dramatically upward, more than a few eyebrows will be raised. However, it will be interesting to see if MSM even covers the suspicious timing and takes the angle seriously.

Waxman and Stupak will definitely do everything they can to get to the truth. Halliburton and B&C won't make it easy though. If there was good reason for them to expect the Gulf oil rig explosion, they've definitely had their paper shredders set on disintegate for weeks.

Nonetheless, a company as nefarious as Halliburton has A LOT of very incriminating documents to destroy. In this type of environment it's easy to overlook the occasional "classified" internal memo. There's also the chance someone in the mailroom who has a conscience will come across something far too interesting to keep secret. In the right circumstances, a small leak can sink a big ship, or in this case, an oil tanker.

It is, however, hard to imagine a scandal big enough to destroy Dick Cheney. He survived outing a CIA agent, cooking the intelligence and starting a war under false pretenses, secret deals with the energy companies, nearly destroying the world's economy, and on and on. Hell, he's even survived about a half-dozen heart attacks.

Even if something does finally catch up to him and he's finally brought to justice, he'd love to spite us (and by "us" I mean everyone except ultra wealthy, straight, male, Repulican, white, American conservatives who voted for Bush/Cheney at least twice). If the day ever comes that he's finally convicted and sentenced to spend the rest of his life destroying the world from behind bars, he'll probably die of a heart attack, and they'll find his corpse smiling that sadistic, crooked, half-leer that seems to say, "Ha ha. You lose."

Here lies Dick Cheney -- Go fuck yourselves.