LOL, , I and many anti-bush people were right. Hate to say this, but told ya so!
http://money.cnn.com/2003/03/25/news/companies/war_contracts/index.htm
| Iraq rebuilding contracts awarded |
| Halliburton, Stevedoring Services of America get government contracts for early relief work. March 25, 2003: 10:32 AM EST |
NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - The first contracts for rebuilding post-war Iraq have been awarded, and Vice President Dick Cheney's old employer, Halliburton Co., is one of the early winners. The Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR) unit of Halliburton (HAL: Research, Estimates), of which Cheney was CEO from 1995-2000, was awarded a contract late Monday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to put out oil fires and make emergency repairs in Iraq. Halliburton wouldn't disclose the monetary value of the contract, under which Halliburton will put into action some of the firefighting and repair plans it detailed for the Army in a study in conducted in November. "KBR's ... contract is limited to task orders under the contract for only those services which are necessary to support the mission in near term," Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall said. Army Corps of Engineers representatives could not be reached for comment. The most critical part of the contract could be the "emergency repairs" portion, which could put Halliburton in prime position to handle the complete refurbishment of Iraq's long-neglected oil infrastructure. Getting Iraq's oil fields to pre-1991 production levels will take at least 18 months and cost about $5 billion initially, with another $3 billion in annual operating expenses, according to a recent study by the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, named for the first President Bush's Secretary of State during the first Gulf War. |
Though none of the potential administrators of such a contract -- including the Defense Department, the State Department's U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United Nations -- have claimed responsibility for handing out the job, Monday's award could mean the Defense Department will be in charge.
Halliburton said it has subcontracted the firefighting portion of the Army contract to Houston-based companies Boots & Coots International Well Control Inc. (WEL: Research, Estimates) and Wild Well Control, Inc., a private company.
Hall of Halliburton said the fires should be put out in about 240 days. Very few oil wells have been set ablaze by Iraqis so far, in contrast to the first Gulf War in 1991, when Iraqi troops retreating from Kuwait set fire to more than 700 Kuwaiti oil wells. Halliburton's KBR unit was involved in putting out the 1991 fires.
Separately, USAID late Monday awarded a $4.8 million contract to Stevedoring Services of America (SSA), a private company based in Seattle, to manage the Umm Qasr ports in southern Iraq.
Umm Qasr's ports, where U.S. and British troops have struggled for full control, are seen as critical to efforts to bring humanitarian relief to Iraqis. SSA will handle several tasks, including assessing the need for dredging and repairs to the ports and unloading and warehousing cargo.
USAID plans to issue seven other contracts, including one for $600 million for general construction work in post-war Iraq. Halliburton is among several companies reported to have put in bids for that contract. 