US oil major ConocoPhillips is ending its operations in Syria and Iran after a New York City official requested the company examine its ties with “terrorist-linked countries.”
In a letter sent to New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. last week, the energy company disclosed that it will make sure that its business activities do not violate “the spirit and the letter of US law. “Our policy would not permit the commencement of business activities in a sanctioned country by either a domestic or foreign subsidiary,” the letter read.
The announcement comes after Thompson submitted a shareholder resolution on behalf of the New York City Police and Fire Department Pension Funds - which have $34.8 million invested in ConocoPhillips. The resolution urged the company to review its operations in Iran and Syria through its UK subsidiary, Conoco Ltd.
“ConocoPhillips has taken the necessary steps to ensure shareholders that the company will not in any way advance the reach of terrorism through its business activities,” Thompson said. “ConocoPhillips has offered assurances that it has already ended any business connections with Iran, and will end its connections with Syria in the future,” he added.
Thompson has also asked the General Electric Company and oil field services company Halliburton to end their operations in countries that “sponsor terror.”
Conoco has in the past lobbied in favor of removing US sanctions on Iran. The company was forced to abandon a $550 million investment in the Sirri oil field in the 1990s, only after an order was signed by former US President Bill Clinton.
ConocoPhillips’ operations in Syria included a joint venture natural gas project with Total Fina Elf. The project involved gathering and processing natural gas and transporting the processed output to the Syrian national grid. The company had a 50 percent interest in the service contract. — (menareport.com)
© 2004 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
