Halliburton Adds 13 000 Jobs This Year

Oilfield services company Halliburton Co. will add 13,000 jobs in 2007, including an unspecified number in Houston, as it beefs up its business around the globe, the company said.

Earlier this week the company said it would split all its heads to Dubai, UAE.

The Dubai announcement has fed speculation that the company is on its way out of town and that Houston's role as a global energy hub may be on the decline. But Halliburton's memo appeared to directly challenge both ideas.

"It is our expectation that our planned growth for 2007 to 2009 will mean that we will hire more than 13,000 new employees in 2007. This will include growth in our Houston employment numbers," Andy Lane, Halliburton's chief operating officer, said in Tuesday's memo, first obtained by the Associated Press and later confirmed by Halliburton officials.