bakerstreet:
Seems they only pulled out of having the WHOLE package for the civilian contract
to rebuild the whole of Iraq, and just stuck with the smaller contract in the oil fields.
link to whole story at bottom...
"
Earlier this week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers handed Halliburton subsidiary KBR -- formerly known as Kellogg Brown & Root -- an exclusive contract to deal with the oil well fires in Iraq.
Halliburton has since hired two oil well firefighting firms, Boots & Coots International Well Control and Houston's Wild Well Control, as subcontractors.
The Army Corps of Engineers contract is only an interim deal to handle emergency work. A more lucrative contract to repair Iraq's deteriorated oil fields will be awarded later after competitive bidding.
Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., has estimated the value of that contract at perhaps "tens of millions of dollars." But the value of that project is not expected to be anywhere near the size of the infrastructure reconstruction project.
Indeed, one source speculated a contract for oil well emergency work was a "sop" for having a real chance to win the large reconstruction contract.
The oil well fires contract was signed on March 8 but was not announced until March 24.
"We were under restrictions not to talk about it at the time," it was awarded, Army Corps spokesman Scott Saunders said.
Halliburton faced no competition for the oilfield contract. In November, the Pentagon, fearing a conflagration similar to Kuwait 12 years ago, had hired the firm to draw up a plan to deal with any oilfield fires. That report, which was classified, put it in place to execute the plan.
The company said it was chosen because it was "the only contractor that could commence implementing the complex contingency plan on extremely short notice."
KBR also was the only contractor that saw the report.
That practice, of a contractor writing a classified report and then getting the job of implementing the plan, is not unusual, noted P.J. Singer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution and author of the upcoming book Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry.
"It's happened before," Singer said. "It's a practice across the industry. It's not a Halliburton thing."
While Halliburton's contract may be limited, the award has raised hackles from West Texas to the south side of the Capitol.
"This entire deal stinks," said Bob Grace, who helped put out oil well fires in Kuwait after the Persian Gulf War.
Grace, president of the Amarillo-based petroleum engineering firm GSM, complained that "there were no other companies considered. It is a `fox-in-the-henhouse' deal. There was plenty of time to consider all who are in this business of oil well firefighting. I will be interested to learn how much of a premium the taxpayers are being charged as a result of no bidding or consideration of others."
The Halliburton contract is what's known as a "cost-plus" contract. That means the company will be compensated for its costs and then receive an additional 2 percent to 5 percent on top of that.
Waxman has written Lt. Gen. Robert Flowers at the Corps of Engineers, asking him to explain more about the Halliburton contract by the end of next week.
"
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/1842006
http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/3-31-2003-38385.asp
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/020804/ap/d7l6mmmg0.html
