Houston, Oct 26: A jury has awarded USD 70 million to a Houston man who claimed that Halliburton and another oil company cheated him out of the chance to develop an oil field in Kazakhstan in the late 1990s. Halliburton said it plans to request that the jury award, which has not been entered as a final judgment, be reduced or eliminated, the Houston Chronicle reported yesterday.
"If the verdict becomes a judgment, we intend to appeal," the Houston-based company said.
Scott Van Dyke and his company, Anglo Dutch Tenge, sued the Halliburton and Ramco Oil in 2000. A jury found in favour of Van Dyke's company on Friday.
Van Dyke's attorney John o'Quinn said his client was promised a concession for an oil field near the Caspian Sea when he met the Turkish President.
When he was unable to fund development of the field, Van Dyke sought out an equity partner. Halliburton contacted him in 1997 and signed a confidentiality agreement not to disclose data that van dyke allowed the company to review, o'Quinn said.
After opting not to invest, Halliburton located another company with ties to the Kazakhstan government and bought the field out from under Van Dyke, according to the lawsuit.
Officials with Scotland-based Ramco Oil could not be reached for comment.
Bureau Report