Arbusto Energy
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Arbusto Energy (Arbusto Oil) was a petroleum and energy corporation formed in Midland, Texas, in 1977, by George W. Bush.
The name Arbusto is Spanish for "shrub," a synonym for "bush".
Investors in the company included Dorothy Bush, Lewis Lehrman, William Henry Draper III, Bill Gammell, and James R. Bath. At the time that Bath made an investment of $50,000 he was representing Salem bin Laden's interests in Texas. When Salem bin Laden died in 1988, his interest in Arbusto (along with other bin Laden Group assets) passed to Khalid bin Mahfouz.
In 1982, Arbusto became known as Bush Exploration, a year after George H. W. Bush became Vice President. A friend of the Bush family Philip Uzielli invested $1 million in 1982 in exchange for a 10% stake in the company, at a time when the whole company was valued at less than $400,000. As it neared financial collapse again in September 1984, Bush Exploration merged with Spectrum 7 Energy Corp., a company owned by William DeWitt and Mercer Reynolds. Bush became Chairman and CEO of Spectrum 7.
In 1985 Spectrum 7 reported a net loss of $1.5 million and was bought in 1986 for $2.2 million by Harken Oil and Gas, with Bush joining the Harken board of directors and finance audit committee.
In 1987 the Saudi investor Abdullah Taha Bakhsh bought most of Union Bank of Switzerland's shares in Harken becoming its third largest investor owning 17% of the company. He was represented on the board by Talat M. Othman. Another investor was Ghaith R. Pharaon who would later be involved in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International scandal.
In January 1990 with the company in the same state as its previous incarnations, it was awarded a contract to drill for crude oil off the coast of Bahrain, a move that shocked industry insiders as Harken had no previous experience outside of the US or of drilling offshore.
In June 1990 Bush sold most shares in Harken to a Los Angeles broker named Ralph D. Smith. One week later Harken announced an overall loss of $23.2 million triggering an SEC investigation into the sale.
References
- Beaty, Jonathan & Gwynne, S.C. (1993). The Outlaw Bank: A Wild Ride into the Secret Heart of BCCI. Random House Inc. ISBN 0679413847.
- Hatfield, J. H. (2002). Fortunate Son: George W. Bush and the Making of an American President (3rd ed.). Soft Skull Press. ISBN 1887128840.
External links
- Bush Name Helps Fuel Oil Dealings (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/wh2000/stories/bush073099.htm) - a Washington Post article discussing Bush's oil ventures
- http://dir.salon.com/tech/feature/2001/11/19/bush_oil/index.html - a Salon.com article on Bush's ties to "big oil"
- The George W. Bush Success Story (http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1111/is_1797_300/ai_59086099) - a Harper's Magazine article on the investors in Bush's companies
- Trust Agreement between James R. Bath and Salem Bin Laden (http://www.michaelmoore.com/_media/images/documents/salem-bath-trust-agreement.jpg)
