02 October 2013, News Wires – A US federal probe into the business dealings of Houston-based Hyperdynamics likely will not affect the company’s ability to develop a massive oilfield off the coast of Guinea, chief executive Ray Leonard said on Tuesday.
The comments follow the company’s revelation late on Monday that the US Department of Justice had requested documents “relating to its business in Guinea”.
Hyperdynamics is exploring an 18,750-square-kilometer area off the African coast with Tullow and KNOC’S Dana.
Leonard declined to specify when asked by Reuters on Tuesday which documents the US government is requesting.
The news wire quoted him as saying that Hyperdynamics has yet to talk with Tullow or Dana about the probe.
“We don’t know the scope of the investigation or who is involved,” Leonard said at the Oil & Gas Investment Symposium in San Francisco.
Hyperdynamics said on Monday that the probe centred around a production sharing contract the company signed in 2006 covering its offshore permit. The company subsequently farmed out to Tullow and Dana.
The DOJ is investigating whether Hyperdynamics’ activities in obtaining and retaining the concession rights – and its relationships with charitable organisations – potentially violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act or US anti-money laundering statutes.
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