The market associated with black gold knows no sanctions: even from Halliburton, a US company with expertise in the field of oil production, Moscow continued to “quietly” import equipment worth over seven million dollars after the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions that should hit the economy of the Russian Federation hard. This is what the customs documents show, which could now put a company based in Huston, Texas, in a position that is anything but comfortable. The company was previously led by the much-discussed former Bush Jr.-era vice president: Dick Cheney.
This embarrassing story was raised by the Guardian, a well-known British newspaper, which published an article saying that Russia imported Halliburton equipment worth $7.1 million in 2022, despite declaring the termination of all relations with Moscow which was then punished worldwide. An armed aggression was launched against Kiev, which was immediately rejected by the entire population Atlantic Alliance.
Considered one of the world’s largest providers of oil and gas products and services, Halliburton would continue to “do business” after abandoning its headquarters in Russia under pressure from Washington, one of the first and biggest proponents of the use of economic sanctions and embargoes , which are intended to be used to convince the Kremlin to stop all kinds of measures hostility in Ukraine.
Russian customs records seen by the Guardian show that “Despite this decision to sell on September 8, Halliburton subsidiaries exported $5,729,600 worth of equipment to its previous business in Russia in the six weeks following the sale.” would have come mainly from the United States and Singaporebut also from Great Britainfrom that Belgium and from France. In short, all realities that have proven crucial for the application of sanctions against Moscow.
The war did not stop exports
As the Guardian reports, most exports from Halliburton subsidiaries ended “on October 6,” but the latest shipment to Russia from a company linked to the Texas giant involves a particular “item” worth nearly $3 million from there should come from Malaysia through a company called Sakhalin energy. That was on October 24, 2022. The consortium, based in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, in the distant and strategically important Kuril Islands in the Russian Far East, is developing the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in the east of Russia. The main investors include the inevitable Gazprom, while the British Shell, part of the project and the consortium, abandoned its investments after the invasion.
The English newspaper further claims that after a “short pause” in December 2022, the import of Halliburton equipment to Russia resumed, this time through two companies considered “unaffiliated with the US multinational.” This time, the components would have been important via Turkey, a strategic member of NATO that maintains ties with the Kremlin.
The companies that benefited from the banned exports and did not escape the customs registers include Russian companies such as: Gazprom, Rosneft, Tnk-BP and Lukoil. Through parallel companies such as BurService, they would all continue to acquire undisturbed components essential to the execution of wells or cement additives necessary to carry out certain operations. Even until June 2023.
A surrender of Kiev on the front of the “businessmen”.
Ukrainian politics and the entire entourage of think tanks and investigative platforms dedicated to controlApplication of sanctions The measures imposed on Russia have reached a high level of desperation, considering that “parallel routes” and methods of evasion are constantly being discovered, which, together with the supply of defensive weapon systems in combination with training and information sharing, is the linchpin of support Ukraine should be in its “fight for freedom”: the commitment of the most important Western industrial companies to “force” Moscow to surrender by isolating it with blows Economic war.
The Kremlin, whose economy is heavily dependentGas export And petroliumIt was expected to suffer enormously from Western sanctions. At least on paper and in the forecasts made after the conflict began. The lack of key components or imported materials should not only have “slowed down” the Russian war machine, but also brought its entire economy to a point of no return, which, however, has never been reached. On the contrary, it seems to have been Western businessmen who gradually capitulated Guardian ofImport Export loyal to the Ukrainian cause. Who continue to witness, often helplessly, the talent of multinational companies that are able to break free and develop strategies that allow them to continue doing business with Moscow through more or less unexpected intermediaries.
There Halliburton isn’t the only one major US company it faced uncomfortable questions about their behavior. Another company mentioned is Schlumberger Limited, currently considered the largest oilfield services company in the world, and Baker Hughes; Yes, exactly what resulted from the merger between the Baker Oil Tool Company and the drilling company founded by his father, the self-centered and famous Howard Hughes.
An act that has already been heard
We have already mentioned the think tank in the past StateWatcha Kiev-based company that has repeatedly drawn the press’s attention to the laxity of Western governments, which call for tightening sanctions against Russia but then fail to prevail or convince them Large companies to sever any kind of relationship or contract with Russian colleagues or subsidiaries that continue to do business with Moscow and companies in the hands of oligarchs close to Putin.
The head of the Ukrainian think tank, who has already reported in the past that Russia continues to purchase or sell components for guided missiles or other things without any interference Weapon systems, argues that companies like Halliburton should be “encouraged” to be transparent and offer “guarantees” that “their products will be kept out of the Russian market.” “When we talk about the Halliburton case, we must understand that it cannot have any effect unless, for example, the United States or other countries try to punish a company involved in this plan to supply Halliburton equipment to Russia .” Finally, it is enough to informally contact someone in the industry, including in Europe, to understand that the options for oil are endless.