The chairmen of a US House committee and one of its subcommittees are seeking more information about a recent oil exploration contract that Hunt Oil Co. signed with the Kurdistan regional government in Iraq.
“By signing a contract with a regional government, Hunt Oil may have undermined US national policy of working toward passage of an oil revenue-sharing plan, which the Bush administration has called a critical step towards national political reconciliation in Iraq and the return home of US troops,” said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Dennis J. Kucinich (D-Ohio), chairman of the committee’s Domestic Policy Subcommittee.
A Hunt Oil executive said the company received a letter from the committee and would cooperate. “As stated before, our policy as a company has always been to act independently where to explore for oil and gas around the world. Our decision to enter into an exploration agreement with the Kurdistan regional government is totally consistent with that policy and was not based on any information other than what was in the public domain,” said Jeanne Phillips, senior vice-president, corporate affairs and government relations, from the independent producer’s Dallas headquarters.
Concerns particularly have been raised about the possibility that Hunt Oil chief executive Ray L. Hunt may have used nonpublic information learned as a member of President George W. Bush’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board to further Hunt Oil’s interests, Waxman and Kucinich said in Oct. 15 letters to Hunt and to Ryan Crocker, US ambassador to Iraq.
They asked Hunt to provide copies of any information he might have received in that capacity, or that any Hunt Oil employee, official or agency might have received about Iraq, Kurdistan, the Iraqi national hydrocarbon law, and US diplomatic efforts toward Iraqi national reconciliation, as well as any information regarding negotiations, contracts, or other interactions with the Kurdistan regional government.
Waxman and Kucinich asked Crocker to provide e-mails and other communications regarding negotiations, contracts, or other interactions between Hunt Oil and the Kurdistan regional government, between any official or employee of the US Embassy in Iraq, and any official of the US, Iraqi, or Kurdistan regional government.
They asked that the information be sent to the committee by Nov. 2 to help it determine if the matter should be investigated.