Oil Services Company Settles Cuba Sanctions Case

CGG Services SA, a French company that provides services and spare parts for oil and gas exploration and seismic surveys, agreed to pay $614,250 to settle alleged violations of U.S. sanctions on Cuba.

According to an enforcement notice posted by the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, CGG and its local affiliates exported U.S.-origin items to ships while those vessels operated in Cuban waters. CGG owns the M/V Veritas Vantage, a seismic research vessel to which it exported some of the items cited in the OFAC enforcement notice, OFAC alleged.

In addition, the U.S. alleged that a Venezuelan subsidiary engaged in five transactions, at the request of the French parent company, involving the processing of data from seismic surveys in Cuba that benefited a Cuban company.

A representative from CGG in the U.S. didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

The company didn’t voluntarily self-disclose the violations to OFAC, the notice said. It “acted with reckless disregard for U.S. sanctions requirements,” the notice said, by exporting U.S.-origin goods to Cuban waters, “especially after its U.S. affiliate informed it that such exports could be a violation of U.S. sanctions.”

However, the notice said CGG “substantially cooperated” with the investigation, adjusted its supply procedures to minimize the risk of future sanctions violations and took some steps to avoid OFAC violations as part of its compliance program.