US oil services firm Halliburton is moving its headquarters and chief executive to Dubai to better position itself to gain contracts in the oil-rich Middle East.
Texas-based Halliburton, which was led by vice president Dick Cheney from 1995 to 2000, did not specify what, if any, tax implications the move might entail.
It plans to list on a Middle East bourse once it moves to Dubai - a booming commercial centre in the Gulf.
Halliburton has drawn scrutiny from auditors, congressional Democrats and the Justice Department for the quality and pricing of its KBR unit's work for the US army in Iraq.
The Dubai move drew political condemnation. "This is an insult to the US soldiers and taxpayers who paid the tab for their no-bid contracts and endured their overcharges for all these years," said judiciary committee chairman Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat.
Halliburton, which has long been involved in the Middle East, generated more than 38 per cent of its $13 billion in oil services revenue in the eastern hemisphere last year.