That report, along with documents from lobbyists and an industry-funded trade group and interviews with former U.S. officials, show that the companies made multimillion-dollar deals with Obiang and his relatives and helped them win political support in Washington.
Oil companies feted Obiang at Washington affairs attended by federal officials and helped broker meetings between members of the Bush administration and regime officials. The companies lobbied to reopen the U.S. Embassy in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea's capital, which had been closed since 1995. That was in part because of the country's dismal human rights record.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Wednesday December 22, 2004 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 85 words Type of Material: Correction
Equatorial Guinea -- An article in Saturday's Section A included Noble Energy Inc. in a list of companies under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for their operations in Equatorial Guinea. Noble has a minority stake in an energy project in Equatorial Guinea but has not been contacted in regard to the investigation, a company spokesman said. The project operator, Marathon Oil Corp., said in a public filing that it was contacted by the SEC and that it was "cooperating fully" with the inquiry.
In 2003, the Bush administration reopened the embassy, citing the need to protect U.S. investments and the growing number of American oil industry employees.
With daily output of 370,000 barrels and estimated reserves of 1.1 billion, Equatorial Guinea is the third-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, a region that provides 15% of U.S. oil imports and is expected to supply 25% by 2015.
American oil companies operate almost all of Equatorial Guinea's energy fields. They have invested about $5 billion in the country.
Stephen Hayes, president of the Corporate Council on Africa, which represents companies doing business on the continent, said oil companies "would be a lot happier with a more transparent government" in Equatorial Guinea, but they were "dependent on the goodwill" of host governments.
"The only choice is: Do we take the oil, or do we ignore it? It's real tough right now with current energy demand to ignore one of the hottest spots in the world," Hayes said. "If we weren't there, there are any number of other countries who would be, at our expense."
Exxon Mobil, Amerada Hess Corp., Marathon Oil Corp. and ChevronTexaco Corp. said their activities in Equatorial Guinea complied with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA. Three other companies under investigation, CMS Energy Corp., Noble Energy Inc. and Devon Energy Corp., declined to comment, as did Equatorial Guinea's embassy in Washington and Riggs Bank.
"Oil companies are basically in partnership with the dictator or his family," Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the top Democrat on the permanent subcommittee, told The Times. "Neither our companies doing business abroad nor our banks here at home ought to be contributing to the corruption problem."
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