State Dept. Says it Met With Hunt Oil, Opposed Deal with Kurds

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Select Committee, 202-225-4081

State Dept. Says it Met With Hunt Oil, Opposed Deal with Kurds

Markey Sends New Query to White House on Iraq “Wildcat Contracting” by Presidential Adviser

WASHINGTON (October 19, 2007) – The State Department informed Chairman Edward J. Markey late yesterday that it opposed Hunt Oil Inc.’s private oil deal in Iraq, yet the deal went ahead. The letter to Markey also lays out the sequence of events that led up to the signing of the oil contract, and says the agency sees it as posing significant political and legal risk.

The response was silent regarding CEO Ray Hunt’s position on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB), suggesting such questions must be answered by the White House. Today, Chairman Markey sent a new letter to the President addressing Hunt’s role in the PFIAB.

The response from the State Department to Chairman Markey can be found by clicking HERE.

The letter to the White House sent by Chairman Markey today can be found by clicking HERE.

“We appreciate the answers from the State Department, but this opens up a whole new set of questions for the White House,” said Chairman Markey, who heads the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. “Why would the President allow a man who serves on a high-level advisory board on foreign intelligence to snub his administration by flouting Iraqi law and needlessly elevating tensions when our troops are at risk?”

The letter from the State Department comes in response to a letter sent from Chairman Markey on October 2, 2007 that quizzed the agency on several issues related to the Hunt Oil deal for Kurdish oil. It asked how long State had been aware of the negotiations between Hunt and the Kurdish government (KRG), and whether or not this agreement was helpful to the administration’s efforts in Iraq, among other questions.

The response, received late yesterday, said the State Department met with Hunt Oil first on September 5, 2007, and signed the deal three days later. In the letter, it says the State Department’s Regional Reconstruction Team “made clear to Hunt Oil’s General Manager. . .that we continue to advise all companies that they incur significant political and legal risk by signing contracts with any party before the Hydrocarbon Framework Law is passed by the Iraqi parliament and that such signature of such contracts would needlessly elevate tensions between the KRG and the Government of Iraq.” (emphasis added)

The letter redirected any questions on Ray Hunt’s role as an adviser on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board to the White House. Today, Chairman Markey sent a letter to the President, asking several questions of the President, including: “When was the White House first aware of negotiations between Hunt and the Kurdish government?” “Do you view this agreement as helpful to your efforts to achieve reconciliation in Iraq?” “Do you agree with the Iraqi oil minister that the contract. . .is illegal?”

“Will the President allow Ray Hunt, a man who seems hell-bent on making money at the expense of de-escalating tension in Iraq, continue to serve him as a trusted adviser?” asked Chairman Markey. “American families and businesses are already bearing the brunt of our oil dependence. Now our foreign policy is being undermined by ‘wildcat contracting’ in Iraq by an adviser to the President.”

In the original letter, Chairman Markey cited America’s debilitating dependence on foreign oil and its influence on accomplishing foreign policy objectives. Energy bills currently being considered in Congress would, if enacted, save more than twice as much oil as we currently import from the Persian Gulf. The original letter from Chairman Markey to Secretary Rice can be found by clicking HERE. Chairman Markey also sent a supplemental letter to Secretary Rice following new revelations on the Hunt Oil deal and meetings with the State Department. That letter can be found by clicking HERE.

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