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10 - PEOPLE/(H-M)/Ray Hunt.md
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@ -39,17 +39,17 @@ Hunt Oil found the Alif field near [[Marib]] in 1984, the first oil discovered i
Hunt joined the Halliburton board in 1998, when [[Dick Cheney]] was chief executive, and went at once onto its compensation committee, which that year gave Cheney a bonus of 1.1 million dollars and restricted stock worth 1.5 million on a salary of 1.18 million. He joined the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas the same year. He was a [[Bush Pioneers|Pioneer]] fundraiser for George W. Bush, who made him finance chairman of the Republican National Committee in May 2000. His son [[Hunter Hunt|Hunter L. Hunt]] took leave from the company to work on the campaign's energy policy group.[^2][^9]
On October 5, 2001, the [[White House]] announced Hunt's appointment to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under General [[Brent Scowcroft]]. The other members included [[Jim Barksdale]], [[Robert Addison Day]], [[Stephen Friedman]], [[Alfred Lerner]], [[Rita Hauser]], Admiral [[David Jeremiah]], [[Arnold Kanter]], [[James C. Langdon Jr.]], [[Pete Wilson]], and [[Philip Zelikow]]. Scowcroft was removed after criticizing the [[Iraq]] war. On October 27, 2005, the White House reappointed Hunt for a term beginning December 20 under Friedman, with [[Donald Evans]], [[Arthur B. Culvahouse]], [[William O. DeWitt Jr.]], and [[Lee Hamilton]]. In the same years two Hunt Oil executives became ambassadors. [[Jeanne L. Phillips]], a senior vice president and a fundraiser for the Bush campaign and inaugural, was ambassador to the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] from August 2001 to June 2003 and returned to the company. Oberwetter was sworn in as ambassador to [[Saudi Arabia]] on January 8, 2004.[^2][^3][^10]
On October 5, 2001, the [[White House]] announced Hunt's appointment to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board under General [[Brent Scowcroft]]. The other members included [[Jim Barksdale]], [[Robert Addison Day]], [[Stephen Friedman]], [[Alfred Lerner]], [[Rita Hauser]], Admiral [[David Jeremiah]], [[Arnold Kanter]], [[James C. Langdon Jr.]], [[Pete Wilson]], and [[Philip Zelikow]]. [[Robert Bryce]] wrote in *Salon* on November 17, 2005 that George W. Bush had dismissed Scowcroft from the chairmanship about a year earlier because of his public criticism of the decision to invade [[Iraq]].[^2] [[Steve Clemons]] wrote on October 27, 2005 that Scowcroft was not asked to return to the board when his term expired at the end of 2004 and that he reportedly told a gathering just after the New Year: "I just got fired."[^10] On October 27, 2005, the White House reappointed Hunt for a term beginning December 20 under Friedman, with [[Donald Evans]], [[Arthur B. Culvahouse]], [[William O. DeWitt Jr.]], and [[Lee Hamilton]]. In the same years two Hunt Oil executives became ambassadors. [[Jeanne L. Phillips]], a senior vice president and a fundraiser for the Bush campaign and inaugural, was ambassador to the [[Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development|OECD]] from August 2001 to June 2003 and returned to the company. Oberwetter was sworn in as ambassador to [[Saudi Arabia]] on January 8, 2004.[^2][^3][^11]
### Kurdistan
On September 8, 2007, Hunt Oil and the [[Kurdistan Regional Government]] announced a production-sharing contract for a block in the Dohuk area, signed under a regional oil law that the Kurdish parliament had passed a month earlier and that the government in [[Baghdad]] did not recognize. The Bush administration's policy was that no contracts should be signed before a national oil law. Three days before the signing, Hunt Oil's regional manager, [[David McDonald (Hunt Oil)|David McDonald]], told the head of the [[State Department]]'s reconstruction team in [[Erbil]] that the company was interested in the Shekhan and Akra districts of northern [[Nineveh Governorate|Nineveh]], territory disputed between Erbil and Baghdad. "This is a significant opportunity that outweighs the legal ambiguity," he said, and of the geology: "It's like shooting fish in a barrel." The embassy's cable reporting the contract went to Washington on September 12. Ray Hunt said he was pleased to be "actively participating in the establishment of the petroleum industry in the [[Kurdistan Region|Kurdistan Region of Iraq]]." President Bush said: "I know nothing about the deal."[^11][^12]
On September 8, 2007, Hunt Oil and the [[Kurdistan Regional Government]] announced a production-sharing contract for a block in the Dohuk area, signed under a regional oil law that the Kurdish parliament had passed a month earlier and that the government in [[Baghdad]] did not recognize. The Bush administration's policy was that no contracts should be signed before a national oil law. Three days before the signing, Hunt Oil's regional manager, [[David McDonald (Hunt Oil)|David McDonald]], told the head of the [[State Department]]'s reconstruction team in [[Erbil]] that the company was interested in the Shekhan and Akra districts of northern [[Nineveh Governorate|Nineveh]], territory disputed between Erbil and Baghdad. "This is a significant opportunity that outweighs the legal ambiguity," he said, and of the geology: "It's like shooting fish in a barrel." The embassy's cable reporting the contract went to Washington on September 12. Ray Hunt said he was pleased to be "actively participating in the establishment of the petroleum industry in the [[Kurdistan Region|Kurdistan Region of Iraq]]." President Bush said: "I know nothing about the deal."[^12][^13]
On July 2, 2008, Representative [[Henry Waxman]], chairman of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]], released company and government documents and wrote to [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Condoleezza Rice]] that "contrary to the denials of Administration officials, advisors to the President and officials in the State and Commerce Departments knew about Hunt Oil's interest in the Kurdish region months before the contract was executed." Hunt Oil officials had met the State Department team in Erbil on June 12, 2007. Hunt had written to the intelligence board on July 12 and August 30, 2007, describing his contacts with the Kurds. An internal Hunt Oil message quoted in the letter read: "This is really good for us ... I find it a huge compliment that he is tipping us off about this ... This is a lucky break."[^12]
On July 2, 2008, Representative [[Henry Waxman]], chairman of the [[House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform]], released company and government documents and wrote to [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Condoleezza Rice]] that "contrary to the denials of Administration officials, advisors to the President and officials in the State and Commerce Departments knew about Hunt Oil's interest in the Kurdish region months before the contract was executed." Hunt Oil officials had met the State Department team in Erbil on June 12, 2007. Hunt had written to the intelligence board on July 12 and August 30, 2007, describing his contacts with the Kurds. An internal Hunt Oil message quoted in the letter read: "This is really good for us ... I find it a huge compliment that he is tipping us off about this ... This is a lucky break."[^13]
### Sharyland
Hunter Hunt founded [[Sharyland Utilities]] in 1999, the first new regulated electric utility in the [[United States]] in three decades. Under the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone program that the [[Texas Legislature]] created in 2005, Sharyland was awarded about 300 miles of transmission lines in the Panhandle. In 2010 the family placed the lines in a real estate investment trust, [[InfraREIT]], which leased them back to the utility. In 2016 Sharyland's average residential delivery charge was 90.39 dollars a month against 38.59 dollars at [[Oncor]]. Oncor and [[Sempra Energy]] bought the assets in 2019 in transactions worth about 1.3 billion dollars.[^13]
Hunter Hunt founded [[Sharyland Utilities]] in 1999, the first new regulated electric utility in the [[United States]] in three decades. Under the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone program that the [[Texas Legislature]] created in 2005, Sharyland was awarded about 300 miles of transmission lines in the Panhandle. In 2010 the family placed the lines in a real estate investment trust, [[InfraREIT]], which leased them back to the utility. In 2016 Sharyland's average residential delivery charge was 90.39 dollars a month against 38.59 dollars at [[Oncor]]. Oncor and [[Sempra Energy]] bought the assets in 2019 in transactions worth about 1.3 billion dollars.[^14]
### Footnotes
@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ Hunter Hunt founded [[Sharyland Utilities]] in 1999, the first new regulated ele
[^7]: "Vice President George Bush, completing a 10-day trip aimed...," *United Press International,* April 12, 1986. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1986/04/12/Vice-President-George-Bush-completing-a-10-day-trip-aimed/5692513666000/
[^8]: "Hunt Oil & ExxonMobil File for Arbitration on Yemen Field," *Rigzone,* 2005.
[^9]: Halliburton Company, Schedule 14A proxy statement, 2004, Securities and Exchange Commission.
[^10]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, "Jeanne L. Phillips," Department History.; "Ambassador focuses on U.S.-Saudi cooperation," *NBC News.* https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8293255
[^11]: U.S. Embassy Baghdad, "Hunt Oil Signs Agreement with KRG under KRG Oil Law," cable 07BAGHDAD3071, September 12, 2007. https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/07BAGHDAD3071_a.html
[^12]: Waxman, Henry A., letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, July 2, 2008, as reported in "Bush Officials Condoned Regional Iraqi Oil Deal," *The Washington Post,* July 3, 2008, and "U.S. officials condoned Kurdish oil deal," *NBC News.* https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25506968
[^13]: *The Texas Tribune,* 2016 reporting on Sharyland Utilities delivery rates; "Texas regulators seal Oncor's nearly $1.3 billion power line deal with Hunt family," *The Dallas Morning News,* May 9, 2019.
[^10]: Clemons, Steve. "Stephen Friedman Named to Chair President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board," *The Washington Note,* October 27, 2005. https://washingtonnote.com/stephen_friedma/
[^11]: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, "Jeanne L. Phillips," Department History.; "Ambassador focuses on U.S.-Saudi cooperation," *NBC News.* https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8293255
[^12]: U.S. Embassy Baghdad, "Hunt Oil Signs Agreement with KRG under KRG Oil Law," cable 07BAGHDAD3071, September 12, 2007. https://wikileaks.org/plusd/cables/07BAGHDAD3071_a.html
[^13]: Waxman, Henry A., letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, July 2, 2008, as reported in "Bush Officials Condoned Regional Iraqi Oil Deal," *The Washington Post,* July 3, 2008, and "U.S. officials condoned Kurdish oil deal," *NBC News.* https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna25506968
[^14]: *The Texas Tribune,* 2016 reporting on Sharyland Utilities delivery rates; "Texas regulators seal Oncor's nearly $1.3 billion power line deal with Hunt family," *The Dallas Morning News,* May 9, 2019.