halliburton energy oilfield-services cheney iraq fracking permian
related: ExxonMobil ConocoPhillips Koch Industries Fossil Fuel Bloc
Who They Are
Halliburton Company. One of the world’s largest oilfield services companies ($23 billion revenue, 2024), headquartered in Houston, Texas (with a dual headquarters in Dubai). Halliburton provides drilling, completion, and production services to oil and gas companies worldwide — the company doesn’t produce oil itself but provides the technology and services that enable production.
Halliburton’s political infamy is inseparable from Dick Cheney, who served as Halliburton’s CEO (1995-2000) before becoming Vice President (2001-2009). Cheney’s Halliburton connection — and the company’s subsequent receipt of no-bid Iraq War contracts worth $39.5 billion — is the vault’s most prominent Revolving Door case study.
Halliburton PAC contributes $1-2 million per cycle, with lobbying spending of $2-4 million annually. The company’s political spending is modest relative to its revenue because its primary political asset is structural: as the dominant oilfield services provider, Halliburton benefits from every policy that promotes oil and gas production regardless of specific legislation.
What They Want
Expedited drilling permits on federal lands, opposition to EPA fracking regulation, favorable trade policy that allows oilfield services exports to sanctioned countries, reduced OSHA enforcement on drilling sites, and continued government dependence on oil and gas production.
What They’ve Gotten
The Halliburton Loophole: The 2005 Energy Policy Act included a provision — lobbied for by Halliburton — that exempted hydraulic fracturing (fracking) from the Safe Drinking Water Act. This exemption means that fracking companies do not have to disclose the chemicals they inject into the ground or comply with EPA water contamination standards. The provision is known as the “Halliburton Loophole” because Halliburton is the world’s largest fracking services provider and its former CEO was Vice President when the law was signed.
Iraq War Contracts: Halliburton’s subsidiary KBR received $39.5 billion in Iraq War contracts — including $7 billion in no-bid logistics contracts — while Cheney received $34 million in deferred compensation and stock options from Halliburton during his vice presidency. The Government Accountability Office identified $1.4 billion in questionable charges.
Money
The Halliburton case study is the Revolving Door made explicit. Cheney: Halliburton CEO ($44M in compensation) → Vice President → Iraq War → $39.5 billion in Halliburton contracts → deferred compensation. The “Halliburton Loophole” in the 2005 Energy Act exempted the company’s primary service (fracking) from environmental regulation — signed into law by a president whose vice president ran the company. The political economy is not subtle. It is a direct transfer of public resources to a private company through the personal connections of its former executive.
Sources
- OpenSecrets: Halliburton organizational profile (Tier 1)
- EPA: Hydraulic fracturing Safe Drinking Water Act exemption (Tier 1)
- Ballotpedia: Halliburton (Tier 3)
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