You say Dubai, I say hello.
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Sunday, March 18, 2007
I think I may have figured out why gasoline prices have gone up about a dime a gallon in the last couple of weeks.
Maybe it's because Halliburton, the giant oil services company that landed the big contract to rebuild Iraq, is moving its corporate headquarters from Houston to Dubai.
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The Halliburton execs have to pay for those plane tickets somehow. And you know how it is when you move in a hurry: The airlines really soak you on the tickets.
Have you checked lately on how much it costs to get Mayflower to drive all your stuff from Houston to the United Arab Emirates?
Halliburton chief executive Dave Lesar says the company is moving to Dubai to take advantage of the big oil markets in the Middle East and Asia.
I suspect there's more to it than that.
Dubai is that rich place in the Middle East that you see on TV with the big hotel shaped like a sail — the $1,361-a-night, seven-star Burj Al Arab Hotel. Maybe they're going for the golf.
Then there's Ski Dubai, that fancy indoor ski area where you can slalom down a 400-meter slope when it's 128 degrees outside.
Meanwhile, Houston has the Beer Can House.
Then again, maybe Halliburton is just trying to get away from all the mosquitoes.
Some cynics will say Halliburton is moving because it wants people to forget about Iraq. This is the company that was given a $2.4 billion no-bid contract to supply the U.S. military, and what has it done so far?
Does the Green Zone have a Starbucks yet? I think they should have given Disney the contract. If they had, you know there'd be a theme park up by now.
Then again, maybe Halliburton is moving because of the disappearing money.
Last month, the feds said the company was responsible for $2.7 billion in contractor waste and excess billing in Iraq. And did I mention that Dick Cheney used to be chief executive at Halliburton?
Maybe they can teach him to sing the new Beatles knockoff, "You say Dubai, and I say hello."
It's probably a good thing for the Houston Chamber of Commerce that Halliburton is getting out of there. After Enron, it needs another company with a funny reputation like it needs another NASA astronaut driving to Florida in a diaper.
After the Enron debacle, does Houston really want a repeat performance? That's all that town needs: more national TV coverage with anchormen standing in front of business signs in downtown Houston. Remember seeing the crooked E over and over again on the news? Do Houstonians really want to turn on the tube and see a crooked H?
I'm just wondering how long it'll be before the Halliburton people get homesick for Houston and want to come back for the humidity. Why not? The heat's already on 'em.
John Kelso's column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Contact him at 445-3606 or
jkelso@statesman.com.
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Next up? We have our first V.P. renouncing the United States and moving to Dubai!
Topic: You say Dubai, and I say hello, hello, hello? (Read 2541 times)