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KAI RYSSDAL: Halliburton, the oil services company Vice President Cheney used to run, is moving. CEO David Lesar said yesterday he’s going to set up his offices in Dubai over in the United Arab Emirates.

Energy analyst and author Paul Roberts says the only surprise might be what took ’em so long.

PAUL ROBERTS: In terms of production and supply, you know, the oil

story’s no longer in the United States. And so this may be the beginning of a, you know, kind of a larger move or maybe a larger trend.

The company says it’s not moving lock, stock and barrel overseas.

But Tom Wallin of the Energy Intelligence Group points out Dubai presents certain opportunities.

TOM WALLIN: From a regulatory and a tax standpoint, Dubai has real advnatages and it’s really

pitched itself to the international community as a place to do business with very low or no taxes, and with very light regulatory restrictions. And so it’s a more appealing place for international oil companies to operate for those reasons.

We talked to a couple of corporate tax experts today. Not one of ’em would speculate about what U.S. tax motives Halliburton might have.