Following on previous posts here and here regarding the rather wild business of exploring for oil and gas in the African nation of Equatorial Guinea, Devon Energy Corp. announced that it had received a letter Friday from the Securities and Exchange Commission asking for cooperation in an inquiry into whether U.S. oil companies violated federal law by bribing officials in Equatorial Guinea.
Other U.S. companies that have been contacted include Exxon Mobil Corp., Marathon Oil Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp. and Amerada Hess Corp. The inquiry follows a U.S. Senate subcommittee report last month into Washington-based bank Riggs National Corp.
The Senate report concluded that several companies had made millions of dollars in dubious payments to top officials in the West African nation through the bank. Devon and the other companies have also denied violating the law and said they would cooperate with the commission inquiry.
According to the Senate report, Devon made payments totaling $350,000 to Equatorial Guinea officials, reportedly to meet “educational training obligations” required under production sharing contracts. Devon also announced that it had begun an internal investigation into the matter.