'Highway Robbery' at Halliburton

[pinkeye]

'Highway Robbery' at Halliburton

By Bracken Hendricks and Skye Perryman, AlterNet
November 6, 2003

Today, the US Army Corps of Engineers announced a suspension of Halliburton's no-bid contract for oil services in Iraq. This announcement comes after several weeks of pressure by House Democrats who have led the charge to increase transparency regarding Halliburton's prices and contracting procedures. For months, Congressmen Waxman and Dingell made inquiries to Bush's Office of Management and Budget as well as other administration officials asking for information on Halliburton's prices. Their requests were met with silence.


Halliburton has been charging the American people more than double the cost of transporting fuel into Iraq. Not only have energy experts said that Halliburton's prices amount to "highway robbery," but the Director of the Defense Energy Support Center, an office within the Pentagon, said that Halliburton looked as if it was charging "excessively high" prices to the American people. Reports released yesterday suggest that the Defense Energy Support Center can transport fuel into Iraq for less than half the amount that Halliburton has charged the American people.


The corruption doesn't stop there. On Tuesday, House Republicans conveniently stripped the Iraqi supplemental bill of a provision that would hold corporations, such as Halliburton, accountable for war profiteering. At the same time, Halliburton was coming under fire for pricing schemes and war profiteering, House Republicans were protecting Halliburton even before the full facts were put before American taxpayers.


Although Halliburton's contract for oil transportation to Iraq has been suspended, many questions remain unanswered:



Why did the Department of Defense award a no-bid contract to Halliburton when its own Defense Energy Support Center could do the job for half the price?



Why did the Bush Administration ignore requests from members of Congress about Halliburton's pricing schemes?



Why was Halliburton's no-bid contract extended and re-extended for this long?



Why did the US Army Corps of Engineers suspend Halliburton's contract days after Congress stripped the Iraqi Supplemental of a provision that would prosecute companies for war profiteering?


At a time when program funding is being slashed and state and local governments face the worst fiscal crisis since World War II, we can't afford to waste taxpayer money on corporate corruption. The American people don't mind sacrificing in times of national crisis. However, sacrificing their well being for Halliburton's profits is going way too far. Congress should initiate an investigation of Halliburton's past overcharging to American taxpayers. Senator Lieberman was right when he said today that Halliburton should have to pay the American people back for their overcharges.


Bracken Hendricks is the executive director of the Apollo Alliance for Good Jobs and Energy Independence. Skye Perryman is a policy fellow at the Institute for America's Future in Washington, DC. To learn more about how to take action against government corruption and for a positive energy and jobs strategy, visit www.apolloalliance.org.

[front]

Dulce et decorum est pro Halliburton mori. :-(

cheers

front

[StarvingStudent47]

**** Cheney can kiss my a--. What has this guy done in the past four years besides hide in an "undisclosed location" and line up contracts for his company?

I mean, at least our last vice-president invented the internet :)

[ßå$tĮТHÏ¿ð]

Someone explain to me why Mr **** Cheney has to be at an "undisclosed location"? Whats this dude hiding from he must be scared of his own shadow. Isnt it a lil ironic how he used to run Halliburton and now as the vice president he's hooking his crooked friends up with deals and screwing the Iraqi people in the process.

[He219]

...he's hooking his crooked friends up with deals and screwing the Iraqi people in the process.
Get it right before you squawk.....

Halliburton's subsidiary KBR (Kellog Brown & Root) has been billing the Army between $1.62 and $1.70 per gallon to import gasoline into Iraq, while Iraqis are charged between 4 cents and 15 cents at the pump.

It's the US taxpayer that is footing the bill in Iraq.


"Although Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world, the U.S. taxpayer is, in effect, subsidizing over 90 percent of the cost of gasoline sold in Iraq," the lawmakers said in the latest Democratic attacks against the company formerly led by Vice President **** Cheney.

The charges cover the purchase and transportation of the petroleum from Kuwait and other countries.

Halliburton, originally hired to extinguish oil fires, has received the expanded role of restoring Iraq's oil industry. The company has been paid $1.4 billion through September for its work.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which chose Halliburton, has received competitive bids for a replacement contract that could be awarded this month.

Waxman and Dingell said the corps informed them the Army paid Halliburton more than $300 million to import some 190 million gallons of gasoline into Iraq - an average of about $1.59 per gallon.

Halliburton then adds a fee that boosts the cost to $1.62 to $1.70 per gallon - nearly a dollar more than the price in the Mideast, the letter said.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGAOBX6YTLD.html

The oil industry is being completely rebuilt, and in the interm, oil needs to be imported for Iraqi domestic consumption, smartypants.

Oh, and don't forget that in the $87 Billion Iraq and Afghan reconstruction allotment, all Iraqi funds are indeed GRANTS, as Iraq would never be able to pay off yet another debt.

They still owe the Frenchies and Russkies for all that military hardware now in Iraqi junkyards.

;)

[Gordon]

True, he got the facts wrong and they aint screwing the Iraqi people.

As I see it, the point here is the fact that Halliburton are charging the army and hence the American people double what is necessary. ie. Halliburton are charging $1.62 / gallon when it could be done for $81 / gallon.

Whether these facts are true or not I don't know and don't have the expertise to determine. If it is true there is surely something wrong seeing as Halliburton were given the contract without letting any other companies bid for it, if this is the case it does stink.

[He219]

I'm all for competitive bidding, as it is what I have to do on a daily basis.

To clarify a few things, one must first comprehend all the facts:

Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization said it pays between 90 and 98 cents per gallon to buy oil from neighboring countries and transport it to different locations in Iraq.

Halliburton said it has no choice but to charge more, since its contract with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (search) requires only short-term deals.

Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said in a written statement that KBR's costs are higher because the company's contracts for gasoline, transportation, depot storage or labor cannot last longer than 30 days.

"Simple economics dictate that companies who are not bound by these guidelines, and are able to negotiate price on a long-term contract basis, can negotiate lower prices," the statement said.

She added, "Based on the entire picture, to allege that KBR is overcharging for this needed service insults the KBR employees who are performing this dangerous mission to help bring fuel to the people of Iraq."

Hall added that the company's 2 percent add-on fee is less than the markup for products at a local gas station or supermarket.

The letter from the Iraqi company, which included a price list, was signed by general manager Mohammed M. Al-Jibouri. The list said the price of gasoline from next-door Turkey was about 98 cents a gallon, and other prices were as low as 90 cents, depending on the gasoline's point of origin and where in Iraq it was delivered.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Agency for International Development (search) awarded, through competitive bidding, a $36.9 million contract to revitalize Iraq's agriculture. Development Alternatives Inc. (search), of Bethesda, Md., was hired for the one-year project.

USAID has also been criticized by lawmakers for awarding its initial Iraq recovery contracts without competition. The agency said there wasn't enough time for competitive bidding to meet Iraq's emergency needs.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,100828,00.html

[James]

Halliburton is profiting from war. They should burn for that. It will be interesting to see what kind of bonuses are paid to the leadership. I wonder how much our young men and women are worth these days?

[Gordon]

Truly, the facts are blatantly important, I was just stating that if Halliburton are racking up the prices it's wrong and the accusation of the contract being awarded through government links with that company are probably true.


USAID has also been criticized by lawmakers for awarding its initial Iraq recovery contracts without competition. The agency said there wasn't enough time for competitive bidding to meet Iraq's emergency needs.

I absolutely agree with this, things needed to be got online as quickly as possible and that wouldn't allow for time for a bidding contract. It is interesting though that the contract wasn't given to the Defense Energy Support Center consdiering it is a government agency and you would have thought the temporary contarcts would be given to government agencies while the bidding process was undertaken. As I said before, I don't know the in's and out's of this or even if the Defense Energy Support Center would have been able to achieve what was wanted.

Anyway, as it seems that contract has now been suspended, hopefully the contract will be renewed with a company, maybe Halliburton, that wins through a bid.

[admar2]

Halliburton is under government contract and they are only charging double normal prices???

that my friends is a ****ing bargain then!!

government contractors generally rape the system for 10x what would be considered normal prices. ;)


Someone explain to me why Mr **** Cheney has to be at an "undisclosed location"? Whats this dude hiding from he must be scared of his own shadow.


he's goes "undisclosed" during times of increased threat or special state functions that large numbers of high ranking government officials attend. It's a little thing called continuity of government. :cantbeli: