Psy 2,401 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Where There is Oil and Gas, There is Schlumberger Source: The Guardian Date: 18th May 2015 Extract: "It works with every major international oil company, and directly for most of the petrostates – including Saudi Arabia, Libya, Russia and Turkmenistan. It operates in the most difficult areas, whether politically, logistically, or technologically, and it is a world leader in the technologies required to get fossil fuels out of the ground – with 36,000 patented ways to help its clients do just that. And it does all of this while staying well out of the limelight. But with a plea deal with the US authorities finalised at the end of last month, Schlumberger set a corporate record it would probably prefer not to be noticed: receiving the largest corporate criminal fine for sanctions violations in US history. Its crime, to which it pled guilty, was to involve its US staff in sanctions-busting transactions with both Iran and Sudan, and for its (unsuccessful) attempts to mask such transactions from the authorities. Schlumberger is now required to pay $155m in criminal fines, forfeit $77.5m in earnings, and undergo three years of corporate probation, the business world’s answer to a yellow card. But for a $48bn-a-year business, which made $208m profit from Iran in 2012 alone, such a fine is just a drop in the oil well. The day the deal was struck, Schlumberger shares actually rose almost 2%, a visible sign investors saw the punishment as little more than a slap on the wrist. But the deal shines unprecedented light on some of the inner workings of a company central to drilling out fossil fuels right across the planet. Schlumberger doesn’t actually own any oil or gas fields itself..... .... for years Schlumberger was able to operate in Iran and Sudan, despite US sanctions, because it wasn’t a US company, and so it did – including directly for the National Iranian Oil Company... The key condition was that no US citizens or staff on US soil must be involved in the contracts. Unfortunately for Schlumberger, the company didn’t manage to keep to those terms – and the US authorities found out, and struck. Documents filed by the Department of Justice, and accepted by Schlumberger through its guilty plea, set out how the US sanctions rules were repeatedly and deliberately breached. Staff within the US, the document sets out, approved capital spend – money for equipment and other needs – against the terms of US sanctions. The DoJ document also sets out the steps staff members took to try to cover their tracks, including creating covernames – such as referring to Sudan as “Southern Egypt†– for the countries concerned when applying for funds...." To read full article click here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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