IT’S A GUSHER

As John McCain Fights For Big Oil,

They Open Their Wallets

July 31, 2008

 IT’S A GUSHER

“This is worse than a dumb idea. It is cruelly misleading. It will

make only a modest difference, at best, to prices at the pump, and
even then the benefits will be years away. It greatly exaggerates
America's leverage over world oil prices. It is based on dubious
statistics. It diverts the public from the tough decisions that need to
be made about conservation.”1

--The New York Times, June 19, 2008

“Rushing to lease offshore areas won't do much to lower world

prices, but it will provide oil companies a valuable entitlement to
the public resource. Once the areas are leased, there will be no
way to halt drilling - regardless of how dangerous to the shoreline
- without compensating the lease holder. McCain, who prides
himself on being brutally honest, is misleading voters by
suggesting ending the moratorium will save them money or ease
the nation's energy needs.”2

--The Tampa Tribune, June 19, 2008

1
“A Big Pander to Big Oil,” The New York Times, June 19, 2008.
2
“McCain Makes False Promises With New Oil-Drilling Stand,” The Tampa Tribune, June 19, 2008.

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SUMMARY
Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) has received a lot of attention in the past few months for his
oil policies, which include temporarily suspending the federal gas tax and opening up the
continental shelf for oil drilling. To show his commitment, he has even scheduled
campaign events on and in front of oil derricks. Garnering far less attention is how
closely tied McCain’s campaign is to the oil and gas industries, and how those industries
have amply rewarded him – especially since June, when he started making these policies
a leading part of his domestic agenda.

New research by Campaign Money Watch, which reviewed data filed with the Federal
Election Commission as well as data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive
Politics, shows just how far embedded the oil industry is in McCain’s campaign:

• In Texas alone, June oil and gas-connected donations to McCain’s Victory ’08
Fund, his hybrid fundraising venture with the RNC and state committees, reached
$1,214,100.3 Of that total, $881,450, or 73 percent, came after June 15. McCain
announced his position in favor of offshore drilling on June 16.4

• All over the country, oil industry donors wrote large checks to the joint
fundraising account in the wake of the reversal on drilling policy. Oil executives
and their spouses from Colorado, Mississippi, Louisiana, California, Indiana, and
Florida gave donations between $5,000 and $100,000. The major outpouring of
donations outside of Texas came from oil giant Hess, whose executives and
family members from New York and New Jersey gave $285,000 within a week of
McCain’s Texas swing, with ten donors all maxing out to the RNC with identical
$28,500 donations.

• These new totals dwarf his previous fundraising from the industry. From 1989
through May 2008, John McCain had raised more than $1.3 million from the oil
and gas industries, and 33 McCain staffers and fundraisers have received a total of
$9.65 million in lobbying fees from the same sectors.

• So committed are the oil and gas industries to McCain’s campaign that they have
given him more than twice as much money in the 2008 cycle than in all other
cycles since 1989.

3
Campaign Money Watch reviewed campaign finance data filed with the Federal Election Commission to
analyze donors to the McCain Victory Fund ‘08. Additional campaign finance and lobbying figures are
based on Campaign Money Watch analysis of data obtained from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-
partisan organization that tracks and codes campaign finance data by industry and tracks lobbying.
Campaign finance data include individual contributions ($200+) and from Political Action Committees
(PACs) to campaign committees and leadership PACs. Data for the 2008 cycle were downloaded in June
2008.
4
“McCain Wants to Lift Ban on Offshore Drilling,” CNN.com, June 17, 2008.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/17/mccain.energy/, accessed July 28, 2008.

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This report is broken down into four parts: 1) an analysis of oil industry contributions
McCain received before June 2008, 2) money McCain and the Republican National
Committee raised in Texas in June while McCain was reversing his position, 3) Big Oil
money raised in the wake of the reversal outside of Texas, and 4) the Big Oil lobbyists
aiding McCain’s campaign.

BEFORE JUNE 2008: PRELUDE TO THE GUSHER

McCain has received more than twice as much money from the oil and gas industry
in the 2008 cycle than in all other cycles since 1989, and seven times what he raised
from the industry in his last presidential run in 2000.

From 1989 through May 2008, John McCain had raised more than $1.3 million
dollars from the oil and gas industries5

• Employees and PACs of oil and gas companies have donated $1,316,145 to John
McCain’s campaigns and leadership PAC since 1989.

5
Campaign finance and lobbying figures are based on Campaign Money Watch analysis of data obtained
from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that tracks and codes campaign
finance data by industry and tracks lobbying. Campaign finance data include individual contributions
($200+) and from Political Action Committees (PACs) to campaign committees and leadership PACs. Data
for the 2008 cycle were downloaded in June 2008. See http://www.opensecrets.org.

Campaign Money Watch Page 4

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• McCain has received substantial donations from employees and PACs of some of
the country’s largest oil and gas companies, including Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

Company Employees and PACs Gave McCain

Hess Corp $63,400
Exxon Mobil $41,251
Chevron Corp $28,800
Moncrief Oil International $18,300
Southwest Gas $18,250

DRILLING FOR DOLLARS: A TEXAS DONATION

GUSHER IN JUNE
Since June 16, when McCain publicly announced his support for offshore oil
drilling, campaign contributions from the oil and gas industries have skyrocketed

• In Texas alone, June oil and gas-connected donations to McCain’s Victory ’08
Fund, his hybrid fundraising venture with the RNC and state committees, reached
$1,214,100.6

• Of that total, $881,450, or 73 percent, came after June 15. McCain announced his
position in favor of offshore drilling on June 16.7

At least 85 Texas-based donors connected to the oil and gas industries made
contributions to McCain’s Victory ’08 Fund in June. They include:

Hushang Ansary (gave $30,800; spouse Shahla Ansary also gave $30,800)

• Ansary is chairman of Stewart & Stevenson, a Houston-based manufacturer and

provider of equipment to the oil and gas industries. Their services include oil well
drilling and maintenance.8

• He is also chairman of the Parman Group, a Houston-based global investment

enterprise with extensive interests in oilfield equipment manufacturing.9

• Ansary is deeply involved in Republican politics. He is a trustee of the George

Bush Presidential Library Foundation and served on the President’s Council of

6
This analysis includes donations of $5,000 or more to the McCain Victory Fund ’08
joint fundraising committee made in June.
7
“McCain Wants to Lift Ban on Offshore Drilling,” CNN.com, June 17, 2008.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/17/mccain.energy/, accessed July 28, 2008.
8
Stewart & Stevenson Website, http://www.ssss.com/About%20SS/, accessed July 28, 2008.
9
NECO Website, http://www.neco.org/awards/recipients/Hansary.html, accessed July 28, 2008.

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the Center for Middle East Public Policy at RAND. He also was a member of the
national finance committee of the 2000 Bush-Cheney campaign.10

John F. Bookout III ($28,500)

• Bookout was chairman of the board, president, and chief executive officer of
Kelly Oil and Gas Corporation. At the time of his retirement in June 1988, he was
president and chief executive officer of Shell Oil Company and became a member
of the supervisory board of directors of Royal Dutch Shell in The Netherlands,
serving for five years.

• More recently, he was a director of McKinsey & Company, a global management

consulting firm, until he retired in 2006.

• He also serves as a director of Tesoro Corporation and, since late 2006, as a

senior advisor to First Reserve Corporation, a private equity firm specializing in
the energy industry.11 From 1995 to 1997, he served on the board of McDermott
International, Inc., a leading worldwide energy services company. Through its
majority ownership of J. Ray McDermott, S.A., McDermott International also
participates in offshore construction.12

Tucker Bridwell ($14,250)

• Bridwell’s “influence is felt coursing through the black veins of the Texas oil
industry,” according to one account.13 A former car dealership president, Bridwell
is now involved in multi-million dollar oil and gas deals and is president of
Mansefeldt Investment Co. and the philanthropic Dian Graves Owen Foundation.

• He is also a prolific donor to Republican candidates, having been a “Bush

pioneer” in the 2000 election, meaning he raised more than $100,000.14

• After 25 years in the energy business, he is now on the board of Petrohawk

Energy Corporation, which specializes in the acquisition, development,
production and exploration of oil and natural gas properties.15

10
Ibid.
11
Forbes profile of John F. Bookout III, available at
http://www.forbes.com/finance/mktguideapps/personinfo/FromPersonIdPersonTearsheet.jhtml?passedPers
onId=1100663, accessed July 28, 2008.
12
“John Bookout Resigns From McDermott International, J. Ray McDermott Boards,” Business Wire, May
16, 1997.
13
ReporterNews, June 25, 2006, http://m.reporternews.com/news/2006/Jun/25/tucker-s-bridwell/, accessed
July 29, 2008.
14
Sidney Levesque, “Tucker S. Bridwell,” Abilene Reporter-News, June 25, 2006.
15
Petrohawk Energy Corporation Website, http://www.petrohawk.com/about/bod.aspx, accessed July 28,
2008.

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William Clements ($38,500; spouse Rita Clements gave $28,500)

• Clements served as Texas’s first Republican governor since Reconstruction,

holding office from 1979 to 1983 and again from 1987 to 1991.

• Prior to entering politics, Clements founded SEDCO, now known as Transocean

Sedco Forex, which is the world’s largest offshore drilling company.16

• In 1979, shortly after Clements took office, a SEDCO offshore rig suffered the
largest blowout in history, catching fire and sinking to the seabed in the Gulf of
Mexico. This was the largest single oil spill ever, releasing 3.5 million barrels of
oil and creating a slick over 14,000 sq km in size. Damage occurred along a long
stretch of Texas coast.17

Richard H. Collins ($10,000)

• Collins is a businessman and philanthropist who, according to his biography on

his charitable foundation’s website, has “participated in oil and gas drilling
ventures,’ “acquired oil and gas properties and energy investment partnerships,”
and “served as a director of privately owned energy companies.”18

• Last year Collins founded StopHerNow.com, an anti-Hillary Clinton smear

website. He has since moved on to Stop-him-now.com, which is dedicated to
“saving America from the radical leftist agenda of Barack Obama.”

David Dewhurst ($28,500)

• Dewhurst is the lieutenant governor of Texas as well as the founder of Falcon

Seaboard Resources, a diversified energy and investments company based in
Houston.19

• In 1971, Dewhurst worked for the CIA in Bolivia, and was there when Bolivian
President Juan José Torres was overthrown by Gen. Hugo Banzer in a bloody
coup, one often believed to have been aided by the CIA.20

• Prior to serving as lieutenant governor, he was state land commissioner. During

his tenure, he was accused of staff cutbacks that undermined the agency's ability
to audit oil and gas royalties owed to the state for education.21

16
Subsea Oil & Gas Directory, http://www.subsea.org/company/listdetails.asp?companyID=119, accessed
July 28, 2008.
17
Summary of 1979 Sedco Oil Rig Blowout, available at http://home.versatel.nl/the_sims/rig/ixtoc1.htm,
accessed July 28, 2008.
18
Today Foundation Website, http://www.todayfoundation.org/organization/leadership_collins.htm,
accessed July 28, 2008.
19
Falcon Seaboard Website, http://www.falconseaboard.com/david.html, accessed July 28, 2008.
20
Robert Bryce, “Weird, Spooky, and Rich,” Austin Chronicle, October 18, 2002.
21
Ibid.

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Autry Stephens ($28,500)

• Stephens is the owner of Big Dog, which has 4,000 wells producing about $1.5
million of oil a day.22

• Stephens’ successor company, Endeavor Energy Resources, was fined $125,000

in March 2003 by the Texas Railroad Commission, described as “the largest fine
in recent history against an oil and gas operator.”23 “From August 30, 1999 to
August 31, 2000, Endeavor submitted 250 false production reports indicating total
production of one barrel rather than zero, which would have been the truth. Many
of the leases were incapable of producing. While investigating the matter, the
Commission found that it was Endeavor company policy not to report zero
production for its leases.”

NOT JUST TEXAS: THE OIL INDUSTRY CHEERED

AROUND THE NATION WITH BIG CHECKS
A preliminary review of FEC filings exposes major contributions from oil executives
and their spouses from at least eight other states in the few days following McCain’s
reversal. They include:

• Gary and Carolyn Chouest ($100,000) from Louisiana. Gary Chouest is the CEO
of Edison Chouest Offshore.

• Stephen Chazen ($5,000) from California. Chazen works for Occidental

Petroleum.

• Frederic Hamilton ($39,300) from Colorado. Hamilton is the CEO of Hamilton

Oil Company.

• Onajite Okoloko ($30,000) from Florida. Okoloko is the CEO of Ocean and Oil
Services.

• Rich and Ann Calhoon ($71,600) from Mississippi. Rich Calhoon is the CEO of
Pruet Oil.

In the eight days following the reversal, ten Hess Oil executives or family members
from New York and New Jersey made $28,500 in contributions, totaling $285,000.

22
Ginia Bellafante, “Workers of an Extreme World, One Beyond Classes,” New York Times, June 18, 2008.
23
Press Release, “RRC Bags Bad Operator, Begins New Era of Strong Enforcement,” Texas Railroad
Commission, March 2003

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LOBBYISTS FROM BIG OIL HELPING MCCAIN

Thirty-three McCain staffers and fundraisers have received $19.3 million in
lobbying fees from at least 30 oil and gas industry corporations and associations

• These lobbying clients’ executives and PACs have donated $225,651 to McCain’s
campaigns.

• The four top oil lobbyists on the McCain campaign have been paid $11,475,000
to lobby on behalf of the oil and gas industries.

• Details about the oil lobbyists on McCain’s campaign can be found in the
Addendum at the end of this report

Many of the oil companies whose executives and PACs have donated the most to
John McCain have been represented in Washington by lobbyists working on the
McCain campaign24

Oil Contributions to Lobbyists Working on McCain

Company McCain since 1989 Campaign
Hess Corp $63,400 Wayne Berman, John Green
Exxon Kerry Cammack, Frank Donatelli
Mobil $41,251
Chevron Wayne Berman, John Green, Richard
Corp $28,800 Hohlt
Occidental Charles Black, James Hyland, Steven R.
Petroleum $18,050 Phillips

The four top oil lobbyists on the McCain campaign have been paid $11,475,000 to
lobby on behalf of the oil and gas industries. They include:

Wayne Berman

• Berman is one of John McCain’s top bundlers, as he has raised at least $500,000
for McCain’s presidential campaign.25

24
Campaign finance and lobbying figures are based on Campaign Money Watch analysis of data obtained
from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that tracks and codes campaign
finance data by industry and tracks lobbying. Campaign finance data include individual contributions
($200+) and from Political Action Committees (PACs) to campaign committees and leadership PACs. Data
for the 2008 cycle were downloaded in June 2008.
25
McCain campaign website, http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/fundraisers.htm, accessed July 22,
2008.

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• Since 2004 Berman has earned $3,170,000 lobbying for four major petroleum
companies, including oil giants Chevron Corp and Hess Corp.

• Federal records show that in 2005, when the Senate voted to allow drilling in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Berman was employed as a lobbyist by Chevron
Corp, Amerada Hess Corp, and the American Petroleum Institute.

• Berman was registered as a Chevron lobbyist in December 2005 when the oil
giant became the first company to refuse to participate in an oil spill drill.26 Less
than three months later, in February 2006, Chevron spilled 31,000 gallons of
crude oil just off the New Jersey coast.27

• In 2007, while Berman lobbied for Chevron, the company reported its highest-
ever yearly profit of $18.7 billion, despite record high prices at the pump.28

• Berman’s lobbying clients from the oil and gas industries have donated $105,300
to McCain’s campaigns since 1990.29

Charlie Black

• Black is John McCain’s chief political adviser and chairman of BKSH and
Associates, a major Washington lobbying firm.30 Black’s wife, Judy, is a top
bundler for McCain, as she has raised at least $500,000 for his campaign.31

• Since 2001 Black has received $1,725,000 to lobby for three major oil companies,
including Occidental Petroleum and the Russian company Yukos Oil.

• Senate disclosure records show that in 2005, when the Senate voted to allow
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Black was employed as a lobbyist
by Occidental Petroleum, the fourth largest U.S. oil and gas company.32

• Black was hired in May 2004 to lobby for Yukos Oil, months after the company’s
founder, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was arrested on charges of fraud and tax
evasion.33

26
Craig Welch, “Chevron Refuses To Do Oil-Spill Exercise,” The Seattle Times, December 14, 2006.
27
Gabriel Madway, “Chevron Estimates Oil Spill Off N.J. Coast at 31K Gallons,” MarketWatch, February
13, 2006.
28
David Baker, “Chevron Posts Record $18.7 Billion Profit,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 2, 2008.
29
Campaign finance and lobbying figures are based on Campaign Money Watch analysis of data obtained
from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that tracks and codes campaign
finance data by industry and tracks lobbying. Campaign finance data include individual contributions
($200+) and from Political Action Committees (PACs) to campaign committees and leadership PACs. Data
for the 2008 cycle were downloaded in June 2008.
30
Michael D. Shear and Jeffrey H. Birnbaum, “The Anti-Lobbyist, Advised by Lobbyists,” Washington
Post, February 22, 2008.
31
McCain campaign website, http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/fundraisers.htm, accessed July 22,
2008.
32
Senate lobbying disclosure database, accessed July 22, 2008.

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• In 2003, while Black was employed as a lobbyist for Occidental Petroleum,

soldiers guarding the company’s pipeline in Columbia killed three local labor
leaders. These leaders were falsely said to have ties to guerilla groups that
attacked Occidental pipelines. Occidental employees were also responsible for
giving incorrect coordinates to Columbian military pilots in 1998, resulting in the
deaths of 18 civilians after a village located near an Occidental pipeline was hit by
cluster bombs.34

• Black’s lobbying clients from the oil and gas industries have donated $18,550 to
McCain’s campaigns since 1990.35

John Green

• Green is McCain’s congressional liaison, coordinating efforts between the

McCain campaign and Republicans in the House and Senate.36 Green has also
raised between $50,000 and $100,000 for the McCain campaign.37

• Since 2002 Green has been paid $3,450,000 to lobby for four major oil and gas
companies, including oil giants Chevron Corp and Hess Corp.

• Senate disclosure records show that in 2005, when the Senate voted to allow
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Green was employed as a lobbyist
by Chevron Corp, Amerada Hess Corp, and the American Petroleum Institute.

• In 2007, while Green lobbied for Chevron, the company reported its highest-ever
yearly profit of $18.7 billion, despite record high prices at the pump.38

• Over the last seven years, Green’s lobbying firm has been paid $1,430,000 by the
American Petroleum Institute. According to a recent House committee
investigative report, the API successfully persuaded the Bush administration
against regulating greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act, despite support from
many officials for these actions.39

33
Robyn Dixon, “Putin Reassures Jittery Investors, Defends Arrest of Tycoon,” Los Angeles Times,
October 28, 2003.
34
Larry Rohter, “McCain Heads Today for Columbia, Where Adviser Has Long Had Ties,” New York
Times, July 1, 2008.
35
Campaign finance and lobbying figures are based on Campaign Money Watch analysis of data obtained
from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that tracks and codes campaign
finance data by industry and tracks lobbying. Campaign finance data include individual contributions
($200+) and from Political Action Committees (PACs) to campaign committees and leadership PACs. Data
for the 2008 cycle were downloaded in June 2008.
36
Martin Kady II and Patrick O’Connor, “Lobbyist to Run McCain’s Hill Effort,” Politico, March 4, 2008.
37
McCain campaign website, http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/fundraisers.htm, accessed July 22,
2008.
38
David Baker, “Chevron Posts Record $18.7 Billion Profit,” San Francisco Chronicle, February 2, 2008.
39
“Newsroom Notes; Markey: Big Oil Slowed GHG Rule,” EnergyWashington Week, July 23, 2008.

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• Green’s lobbying clients from the oil and gas industries have donated $106,050 to
McCain’s campaigns since 1990.40

Steven R. Phillips

• Phillips is a McCain bundler who has raised between $100,000 and $250,000 for
the campaign.41

• Since 1999 Phillips has been paid $3,130,000 to lobby for major oil and gas
interests, including BP and Irving Oil.

• Senate disclosure records show that in 2005, when the Senate voted to allow
drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Phillips was employed as a
lobbyist by Chevron Corp, Amerada Hess Corp, and the American Petroleum
Institute.

• Phillips’ lobbying clients in the oil and gas industries have donated $40,950 to
McCain’s campaigns since 1990.42

40
Campaign finance and lobbying figures are based on Campaign Money Watch analysis of data obtained
from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that tracks and codes campaign
finance data by industry and tracks lobbying. Campaign finance data include individual contributions
($200+) and from Political Action Committees (PACs) to campaign committees and leadership PACs. Data
for the 2008 cycle were downloaded in June 2008.
41
McCain campaign website, http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/fundraisers.htm, accessed July 22,
2008.
42
Campaign finance and lobbying figures are based on Campaign Money Watch analysis of data obtained
from the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-partisan organization that tracks and codes campaign
finance data by industry and tracks lobbying. Campaign finance data include individual contributions
($200+) and from Political Action Committees (PACs) to campaign committees and leadership PACs. Data
for the 2008 cycle were downloaded in June 2008.

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