By Simpson
05-08-07
Chevron is reported near a deal that enables the company to avoid criminal charges in the UN oil-for-food scandal. The oil giant will apparently pay $25-30 million in fines.
Chevron will, according to the New York Times, acknowledge that it should have known surcharges on the oil it purchased were in fact kickbacks to Saddam’s regime. It won’t admit it illegally violated the United Nations sanctions.
You know, the old, "We-did-it, it’s-not-illegal, here’s-a-fine routine."
Under the $64 billion oil-for-food program Iraq was allowed to sell oil and the proceeds were to be used only for food and medicine. But Saddam’s government received $1.8 billion in kickbacks and siphoned off the money for other uses.
The fine is connected to the payment of about $20 million in surcharges on tens of millions of barrels of Iraqi oil bought by Chevron from 2000 to 2002, the New York Times said.
Condolezza Rice, now secretary of state, was a member of the Chevron board of directors and chair of its public policy committee until she resigned on January 16, 2001, to become President Bush’s National Security Advisor. You’d think she would have spoken up. (On second thought, maybe not…)
The deal gets Chevron off the hook for any criminal liability. More important though, it wipes the slate clean as the company seeks to tap the oil reserves soon to be on offer in the new Iraq. Why do we feel Chevron’s sponsorship of the upcoming Iraq Oil and Gas Summit is aimed at the same thing?