AZERBAIJAN - US Lobbyists.

Aliyev gains much from influential lobbyists in Washington, including Jewish leaders. President Clinton's former treasury secretary, Lloyd Bentsen, is a shareholder in Frontera Resources, an oil services company working in Azerbaijan which got a PSA for two onshore oilfields in June 1998 (see Gas Market Trends). Frontera is chaired by another Texan, William White, a former deputy secretary of energy in Clinton's administration. Brent Scowcroft, national security chief under the Bush administration, was reportedly paid $100,000 in 1996 by Pennzoil for consulting on international projects and also earned a $30,000 director's fee from the company, with Pennzoil President Tom Hamilton having become a friend of Aliyev. Richard Cheney, a Bush defence secretary, is chairman of Halliburton which is operating in Azerbaijan. AIOC is a client of Bush secretary of state James Baker's law firm. Bush White House chief of staff John Sununu's management consulting firm, JHS Associates, was contracted by the Azeri government during Aliyev's visit to the US in July/August 1997. Carter national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski is a consultant to BP Amoco, with AIOC promoting Baku's cause in Washington.