Chevron named in CIA report on oil deal with Saddam

Federal investigators are focusing on four American oil companies — including San Ramon-based ChevronTexaco — and three U.S. citizens who allegedly received vouchers for oil from Saddam Hussein as he sought to flout United Nations sanctions, the Wall Street Journal is reporting.

The U.S. companies — which also include Exxon Mobil Corp. and El Paso Corp. and Bayoil, a closely held Houston oil company — and individuals were identified in the Central Intelligence Agency’s 1,000-page report on the Hussein regime’s campaign, though their names were edited out of the publicly released version.

A federal grand jury in Manhattan is investigating whether there was corruption in the Oil-for-Food program. Exxon, El Paso, and Chevron previously confirmed that they were among companies to receive subpoenas.

Others identified in the report as receiving the vouchers include Oscar Wyatt, of Houston; Shakir al Khafaji, of West Bloomfield, Mich.; and Samir Vincent, of Annandale, Va. Together, the companies and individuals received vouchers valued at 111 million barrels of oil, according to the Duelfer report.

Officials stressed that the allocation of vouchers — negotiable instruments that could be traded for Iraqi oil — wasn’t necessarily criminal and that no one has been charged with an offense.

A Chevron spokesman said that the company was cooperating with the investigation and added that "all purchases of Iraqi crude by ChevronTexaco were made in full compliance with all applicable laws."

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