A man wearing a US President George Bush mask holds up protest signs outside the Major Economies Meeting on Energy Security and Climate Change Agenda conference held at the East West Center, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2008, in Honolulu. A group of protesters gathered outside the international conference demonstrating climate. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
Jan. 30, 2008, 11:35PM
Judges feel out delicacy of suits (click here)
KBR Iraq cases involve casualties among contractors
By BRETT CLANTON
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
A federal appeals panel, meeting behind closed doors Wednesday, heard arguments over whether three cases involving KBR contractors injured or killed in Iraq should be revived and go before juries.
In the hourlong hearing, the three-judge panel at the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans probed lawyers for the victims and KBR about a deadly April 2004 attack on a KBR truck convoy, in which six workers were killed, one went missing and others were injured, according to two lawyers who were present.
"The judges were extremely active" in questioning lawyers from both sides, said Tobias Cole, a Houston attorney representing Kevin Smith-Idol, a KBR contractor shot in the knee and hip during the attack.
Lawyers for the contractors argued that KBR knew the civilian convoy was heading into an active battle zone but sent it anyway, violating pledges to keep workers safe....
Halliburton dismisses Iran accusations-magazine (click here)
DUBAI, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Oilfield services company Halliburton Co (HAL.N: Quote, Profile, Research) has brushed aside claims the decision to set up a second headquarters in Dubai was aimed at evading U.S. sanctions to resume operations in Iran.
"These assumptions and suppositions are absolutely untrue," David Lesar, chief executive of Halliburton, told Dubai-based .Commerce magazine in an interview to be published on Jan. 31.
The Dubai move sparked controversy among U.S. politicians last March. Senator Frank Lautenberg at the time accused Halliburton of going "to extraordinary lengths in the past to do business with the terrorist government in Iran".
Mitcham Industries Names Robert Albers to Its Board of Directors (click here)
...Previously from 1990 to 1994, Mr. Albers served as Vice President and General Manager of Halliburton Geophysical Products, a $100 million global division of Halliburton. In 1982 he joined Geosource, Inc. and served as President and General Manager, Operations and Technology Group; prior to that from 1963, he held various management and leadership roles at Chevron Oil Company. Mr. Albers holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mining Engineering from Lehigh University. He is a member of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and the EAGE.
Mitcham Industries, Inc., a geophysical equipment supplier, offers for lease or sale, new and "experienced" seismic equipment to the oil and gas industry, seismic contractors, environmental agencies, government agencies and universities. Headquartered in Texas, with sales and services offices in Calgary, Canada; Brisbane, Australia; Singapore; Ufa, Bashkortostan, Russia; and the United Kingdom and with associates throughout Europe, South America and Asia, Mitcham conducts operations on a global scale and is the largest independent exploration equipment lessor in the industry.
