Word: bahrain
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...suburban Dallas company is surely one of the most mysterious and eccentric outfits ever to drill for oil. Harken consists of almost no assets besides an exclusive 35-year contract to explore for crude in Bahrain. When the country's rulers handed Harken that deal early last year, it puzzled oil experts around the world. Why would Bahrain stake so much of its financial future on an obscure, money-losing company with no refineries and no experience in offshore oil exploration? "It was a surprise," says Jay Gallagher, a senior analyst for Petroconsultants, one of the world's largest...
...deal ignited oil-patch speculation that Bahrain's rulers see the arrangement as a way to gain influence with the Bush Administration. The President's son, known informally as George Jr., is a Harken investor, director and consultant. No one has produced evidence that Bahrain has won any favors from the White House in return. Yet the financial connection has caused the Administration some discomfort, most notably last fall when reporters asked whether the young Bush's gulf investment had any influence on his father's decision to send troops there. Said Bush's son last October...
...tiny country, with a population of 500,000 and a land area only four times the size of Washington, D.C., is unabashed in its desire to foster a warm relationship with the U.S. Last week the President greeted Bahrain's emir, Sheik Isa bin Salman al-Khalifa, with a 21-gun salute at the White House in honor of his nation's role as the principal allied naval base during the gulf...
...firm Bahrain chose to find its bonanza has a freewheeling history, even by Texas standards. Harken director E. Stuart Watson, a former executive for oil giant Atlantic Richfield, calls the Dallas company's deals "convoluted" and difficult even for industry veterans to grasp. Says Harken founder Phil Kendrick, still a small shareholder: "Their annual reports and press releases get me totally befuddled. There's been so much promotion, manipulation and inside dealmaking. It's been a fast-numbers game." Some former executives charge the firm with routinely inflating its assets to make its balance sheets look better. Harken's longtime...
...1980s, Harken was bloated and indebted, but it won a windfall. Bahrain, which produces a mere 42,000 bbl. of oil a day (Saudi Arabia's output: more than 8 million), decided to hunt for more crude. In 1989 Bahrain officials suddenly and mysteriously broke off promising talks with Amoco. One minister then telephoned an old friend, Michael Ameen, the respected former head of Mobil's Middle East operations. "They wanted a small American company," claims Ameen, who says he drew a blank. But 10 minutes later, Ameen got a call from an investment banking friend in Arkansas, who recommended...