Halliburton announced April 9 all of the commitments of its subsidiary working in Iran have been completed and it no longer has operations in the country. In January 2005, the company announced it would not accept new contracts in Iran but would complete its existing projects there. Halliburton maintains its operations in Iran, handled through a Dubai office, were legal because they were isolated from the US operations and management. (Kuwait Times, April 10)

The new announcement comes just as Iran's government has announced the initiation of "industrial-scale" uranium enrichment—sending oil prices jumping to over $67 a barrel. Prices had dropped slightly after Iran's release of the captive British sailors last week. (Reuters, April 10) Ironically, Halliburton is said to have helped develop Iran's nuclear industry—a fact little noted in recent media coverage.

See our last post on Halliburton and Iran and the struggle for control of the world's hydrocarbons.