GVA Consultants

"When GVA Consultants won the contract to design the Iran-Alborz platform in 2001, the company acquired a 5% stake in the project, according to reports. GVA, formerly part of the UK’s BMT Group, was subsequently acquired by Halliburton, the American defense contractor. While Halliburton announced in April of 2007 that it had ceased all of its Iranian operations, it divested Houston-based KBR Inc., which is now GVA’s parent company, that same year. Gity, the Khazar official, described the current relationship with GVA as being a 'joint venture.' However this claim, made by an Iranian official eager to present his company and country in a favorable light, has not been verified. Senior representatives were unavailable when a call was made by this news service to GVA’s Goteburg, Sweden headquarters seeking comment on whether the company still holds a stake in the Iran-Alborz platform, or any other oil exploration activities in the Caspian Sea." (Financial Times, "Iran seeks Chinese proxies to further offshore drilling ambitions," 5/31/2013)