This is a great little article that gives a snap shot of the current oil security business in Iraq. It also mentions the Chinese security teams operating there and some of the issues they have faced. For a quick primer on this, I posted some stuff about China’s plans in Iraq.
Basra is also really bad for this kind of thing. It is to be expected that these Iraqi companies would try to inflate prices and jerk around the oil companies. Haliburton and others should not be surprised that these local companies would be like this. –Matt
WikiLeaks cables: Iraq security firms operate ‘mafia’ to inflate prices
Halliburton executive’s comments reveal tensions between security firms, oil companies and the Baghdad government
By Rajeev Syal
Tuesday 21 December 2010
Halliburton’s senior executive in Iraq accused private security companies of operating a “mafia” to artifically inflate their “outrageous prices”, according to a US cable.
Written by a senior diplomat in the US’s Basra office, the confidential document discloses the tensions between private security firms, oil companies and the Iraqi government as coalition forces withdraw from protecting foreign business interests.
John Naland, head of the provincial reconstruction team in Basra, wrote in January this year that several oil company representatives complained of “unwarranted high prices” given an improving security situation since 2008.
“Halliburton Iraq country manager decried a ‘mafia’ of these companies and their ‘outrageous’ prices, and said that they also exaggerate the security threat.
“Apart from the high costs for routine trips, he claimed that Halliburton often receives what he says are ‘questionable’ reports of vulnerability of employees to kidnapping and ransom. He said that he recently saw an internal memo from their security company which tasked its employees to emphasize the persistent danger faced by IOCs [international oil companies].” Naland wrote.