Halliburton price gouging USA for fuel in Iraq

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
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Worried about the price of fuel here?

You can worry about the price of fuel the US is paying Halliburton for in Iraq even more.

And to think we were told Iraq's oil would pay for rebuilding what the Bush administration destroyed.

AMERICAN TAXPAYERS ARE FOOTING THE BILL TO BRING FUEL INTO IRAQ AT VASTLY INFLATED PRICES THEN CHARGING IRAQIS 4 TO 15 CENTS PER GALLON!

This just gets worse and worse.

I wonder how Halliburton will justify this.

I wonder how anyone can.

From the NY Times Business section.

2 in House Question Halliburton's Iraq Fuel Prices
By NEELA BANERJEE

Published: October 16, 2003


Two senior Democratic congressmen are questioning whether Halliburton is overcharging the United States government in the procurement of gasoline and other fuel for Iraq, which is now importing oil products to stave off shortages.

In a letter sent yesterday to the White House Office of Management and Budget, the two lawmakers, Representative Henry A. Waxman of California and Representative John D. Dingell of Michigan, contended that "Halliburton seems to be inflating gasoline prices at a great cost to American taxpayers."

"The overcharging by Halliburton is so extreme that one expert has privately called it `highway robbery,' " the letter said.

According to the two lawmakers, Halliburton has charged the government $1.62 to $1.70 a gallon for gasoline that could be bought wholesale in the Persian Gulf region for about 71 cents and transported to Iraq for no more than 25 cents. The fuel was sold in Iraq for 4 cents to 15 cents a gallon, the letter said.

A spokeswoman for Halliburton, Wendy Hall, declined to address the specific calculations that Mr. Dingell and Mr. Waxman used in their letter, saying that the company's KBR unit, which is working in Iraq, "continues to negotiate fair and competitive prices to provide fuel to the Iraqi people."

"We used a sound procurement process which has been approved by the government for procurement activities," Ms. Hall said in a statement sent by e-mail. "We awarded the fuel acquisition contract to the suppliers who could meet the requirements defined by our client." Halliburton's client is the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

The accusation is the latest to roil an already contentious Capitol Hill consideration of how the money to rebuild Iraq is being spent. President Bush has asked Congress to approve an $87 billion supplemental financing package for Iraq operations, and about $20.3 billion of that would go to reconstruction projects. Many Democrats and some Republicans have said that the reconstruction so far has been plagued by waste and noncompetitive contracting.

Halliburton in particular has been the focus of much criticism because its contract to make emergency repairs to Iraq's oil industry was awarded by the Pentagon without competition and the industry remains hobbled, mainly by sabotage and looting, months after the main fighting of the war was declared over.

A spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, Trent Duffy, said the Waxman-Dingell letter was under review. "We need to have a conversation with C.P.A. in Baghdad," Mr. Duffy said, referring to the Coalition Provisional Authority, the American-led civil administration in Iraq. "They're on a different time schedule, so we need a little more time."

Iraq, which has the third-largest oil reserves in the world, is producing at roughly half its prewar level of about 2.5 million barrels a day. Its refineries have been stymied by power failures, pipeline sabotage and the general degradation of the oil industry after more than a decade of United Nations sanctions. Starting in late April and at times during the summer, lines for gasoline clotted the streets of Iraq's biggest cities, especially Baghdad, and stoked widespread resentment among Iraqis already grappling with the breakdown of basic services.

As a result, the oil ministry and the coalition authority began importing gasoline and other fuel late in May from neighboring countries like Kuwait, Turkey and Jordan.

The extra $20.3 billion the Bush administration has asked for includes $2.1 billion for the Iraqi oil sector. A little less than half that would go to buying gasoline, cooking gas, kerosene and diesel fuel for Iraq, at a cost of about $4 million a day, Mr. Duffy has said previously. The rest of the money would go to repairing the industry.

At the heart of the Congressional Democrats' accusation is the difference between the wholesale price of gasoline in the Persian Gulf region and the price they calculated that Halliburton charged the Corps of Engineers for the gasoline it brought into Iraq.

Based on information that Mr. Waxman's office obtained from the Corps of Engineers, Halliburton received $304,486,577 to import 191,965,150 gallons of gasoline into Iraq as of Sept. 18. That would come to $1.59 a gallon on average, the letter said. Halliburton's contract calls for the government to cover costs and pay a profit margin of 2 percent to 7 percent, which would bring the price of gasoline to $1.62 to $1.70 a gallon.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the letter continued, the average wholesale price of benchmark Arab Gulf gasoline from April through September was about 71 cents a gallon. Industry experts who Mr. Waxman's office spoke to said it should cost no more than 25 cents a gallon for Halliburton to transport gasoline by tanker-trailers from neighboring countries to Baghdad. That would leave at least 66 cents a gallon unaccounted for, based on the Dingell-Waxman letter.

Iraqis pay the equivalent of 4 cents to 15 cents a gallon for gasoline, which means that American taxpayers are footing the bill for bringing oil into Iraq.


One answer for the disparity may be the cost of renting the trucks, or of paying drivers who are worried about entering a turbulent Iraq, said George Beranek, manager of market analysis at PFC Energy, a Washington consulting firm. Still, Mr. Beranek and other industry analysts said that the difference between the wholesale price and the price the letter says Halliburton charged was puzzling.

Mr. Waxman and some industry analysts also questioned why the Iraqi State Oil Marketing Organization did not take the lead role in obtaining the gasoline, given its long experience with importing and exporting oil and other petroleum products.

"The basic thing that Halliburton has to answer is why this high price," said Walid Khadduri, editor of the Middle East Economic Survey, a Cyprus weekly newsletter specializing in the oil business. "That's way above market price and they have to justify that."

---

Locked due to excessive personal, off point flaming. You are welcome to repost this topic.

AnandTech Moderator

 
Jan 12, 2003
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Mods, please move to the "Who give a chit" forums; thanks.

---

xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx,

Please move elsewhere for two weeks. Your thread crapping flame bait is not welcome here.

AnandTech Moderator
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
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Originally posted by: xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx
Mods, please move to the "Who give a chit" forums; thanks.

Mods, please lobotomize galt. He isn't using his brain anyway.
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
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Originally posted by: alchemize
No dead americans to gloat over today...he's gotta find something off google.

Nope. I read the NY Times daily.

But that's not the subject. Don't you people even give one damn a US corportaion with a no bid contract is overcharging for fuel in a nation with the world's second (or third depending on who you believe) oil reserves?

Just business as usual. I'd like to see your reactions if this was happening during the late 90's.
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
2,579
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PS A$$HOLE

When have I EVER gloated over dead Americans?

It would seem your charge is directed at the wrong person.

Your fearless leader is the reason there are dead Americans for you to use as partisan fodder.
 

CaptnKirk

Lifer
Jul 25, 2002
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Galt - where do you think that you have the right to mini-mod anything around here?

All I've seen you do is blast anyone who does not subscribe to you partisian party line politics.

You have sometimes stayed on subject, and started a coherent response, but then the next thing
you know there is someone that you take exception to and you start with your condescending remarks
and make with the insults. That, sir, is unacceptable.
(I only used 'sir' as in the same condescending term that you do, as you offer no respect)

You've only been active on this portion of the forum for about 2 months now,
but have really marked out your territory as a partisan biggot.
Now I may be wrong, but you'd have to prove otherwise.

Do you really work for Ashcroft from within the Fed ?
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
2,579
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Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Galt - where do you think that you have the right to mini-mod anything around here?

All I've seen you do is blast anyone who does not subscribe to you partisian party line politics.

You have sometimes stayed on subject, and started a coherent response, but then the next thing
you know there is someone that you take exception to and you start with your condescending remarks
and make with the insults. That, sir, is unacceptable.
(I only used 'sir' as in the same condescending term that you do, as you offer no respect)

You've only been active on this portion of the forum for about 2 months now,
but have really marked out your territory as a partisan biggot.
Now I may be wrong, but you'd have to prove otherwise.

Do you really work for Ashcroft from within the Fed ?


I've asked that question myself from time to time.

It seems there are many government workers on the P&N forums with plenty of time on their hands to monitor and respond here. Many of them admit working for the government after being in the military and also living in the Washington DC area.

Fvcking fascists.
 

SuperTool

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
14,000
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Nice to see how Republicans don't care about government waste. But then again we knew they were hypocrites.
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
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Originally posted by: SuperTool
Nice to see how Republicans don't care about government waste. But then again we knew they were hypocrites.

And all this while that scumbag Cheney is still collecting compensation from Halliburton.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A2233-2003Sep25.html

But the rabid right sees nothing wrong with price gouging American taxpayers or Cheney's conflict of interest.

What a surprise.

Like you said SuperTool, HYPOCRITES!
 
Jan 12, 2003
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Originally posted by: alchemize
No dead americans to gloat over today...he's gotta find something off google.

Nice......and the NYT didn't plagiarize any liberal writings today from other journalists, so I guess I understand the topic change.

 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
2,579
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Originally posted by: xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx
Originally posted by: alchemize
No dead americans to gloat over today...he's gotta find something off google.

Nice......and the NYT didn't plagiarize any liberal writings today from other journalists, so I guess I understand the topic change.

One a$$hole quoting another a$$hole while totally ignoring the fact that their fearless leaders are again robbing American taxpayers and filling their pockets.

You people have no brains or shame.

Fvcking hypocrites.

Keep up the good work. You're making it easy for everyone to see just what you are truly made of.

Traitors.
 

CADsortaGUY

Lifer
Oct 19, 2001
25,162
1
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www.ShawCAD.com
Originally posted by: BOBDN
You people have no brains or shame.

Fvcking hypocrites.

Keep up the good work. You're making it easy for everyone to see just what you are truly made of.

Traitors.


Moonbeam give you a mirror this morning? :D

CkG
 
Jan 12, 2003
3,498
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Originally posted by: Czar
galt, do you have a hard time discussing the issue at hand?


There aren't ever any "issues at hand" in Boobdn's threads; these are just 'cut-and-paste' jobs he does trolling for people to flame...so to answer your question-yes and no.
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
2,579
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Originally posted by: xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx
Originally posted by: Czar
galt, do you have a hard time discussing the issue at hand?


There aren't ever any "issues at hand" in Boobdn's threads; these are just 'cut-and-paste' jobs he does trolling for people to flame...so to answer your question-yes and no.

galt, you are a moron. This is what you call no issues at hand?

Based on information that Mr. Waxman's office obtained from the Corps of Engineers, Halliburton received $304,486,577 to import 191,965,150 gallons of gasoline into Iraq as of Sept. 18. That would come to $1.59 a gallon on average, the letter said. Halliburton's contract calls for the government to cover costs and pay a profit margin of 2 percent to 7 percent, which would bring the price of gasoline to $1.62 to $1.70 a gallon.

According to the Congressional Research Service, the letter continued, the average wholesale price of benchmark Arab Gulf gasoline from April through September was about 71 cents a gallon. Industry experts who Mr. Waxman's office spoke to said it should cost no more than 25 cents a gallon for Halliburton to transport gasoline by tanker-trailers from neighboring countries to Baghdad. That would leave at least 66 cents a gallon unaccounted for, based on the Dingell-Waxman letter.

Iraqis pay the equivalent of 4 cents to 15 cents a gallon for gasoline, which means that American taxpayers are footing the bill for bringing oil into Iraq.
 

Czar

Lifer
Oct 9, 1999
28,510
0
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Originally posted by: xxxxxJohnGaltxxxxx
Originally posted by: Czar
galt, do you have a hard time discussing the issue at hand?


There aren't ever any "issues at hand" in Boobdn's threads; these are just 'cut-and-paste' jobs he does trolling for people to flame...so to answer your question-yes and no.
so what is worth calling an issue if its not events happening in the world?
 

alchemize

Lifer
Mar 24, 2000
11,489
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BOBDN is all for subsidizing prices at the expense of taxpayers. Just not if it benefits someone other than his special interest group.
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
2,579
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Originally posted by: alchemize
BOBDN is all for subsidizing prices at the expense of taxpayers. Just not if it benefits someone other than his special interest group.

More bullsh!t from another a$$hole.

Reply to the subject. Whatsamatta? Can't spin this one?
 

SuperTool

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
14,000
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Originally posted by: alchemize
BOBDN is all for subsidizing prices at the expense of taxpayers. Just not if it benefits someone other than his special interest group.

Better subsidize it for Americans than for Iraqis, since it's our taxes that are paying for it.
But then again you don't mind our taxes being wasted, as long as they are going to Bush's cronies.
 

Gaard

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2002
8,911
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Hey CAD, mind telling these guys to quit attacking the 'source' (meaning messenger)? ;)
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
2,579
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Originally posted by: SuperTool
Originally posted by: alchemize
BOBDN is all for subsidizing prices at the expense of taxpayers. Just not if it benefits someone other than his special interest group.

Better subsidize it for Americans than for Iraqis, since it's our taxes that are paying for it.
But then again you don't mind our taxes being wasted, as long as they are going to Bush's cronies.

Yep. Cheney isn't financially secure. He needed the Bush tax cut and no bid contracts for Halliburton.

The Bush administration is full of the worst slimeballs ever to govern our nation and the rabid right idiots on this forum just keep defending them.

HYPOCRITES!
 

SuperTool

Lifer
Jan 25, 2000
14,000
2
0
Originally posted by: BOBDN
Originally posted by: SuperTool
Originally posted by: alchemize
BOBDN is all for subsidizing prices at the expense of taxpayers. Just not if it benefits someone other than his special interest group.

Better subsidize it for Americans than for Iraqis, since it's our taxes that are paying for it.
But then again you don't mind our taxes being wasted, as long as they are going to Bush's cronies.

Yep. Cheney isn't financially secure. He needed the Bush tax cut and no bid contracts for Halliburton.

The Bush administration is full of the worst slimeballs ever to govern our nation and the rabid right idiots on this forum just keep defending them.

HYPOCRITES!

Worse, TRAITORS.
They put their party ahead of their country.
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
2,579
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Originally posted by: CADkindaGUY
Originally posted by: BOBDN
You people have no brains or shame.

Fvcking hypocrites.

Keep up the good work. You're making it easy for everyone to see just what you are truly made of.

Traitors.


Moonbeam give you a mirror this morning? :D

CkG

I can look in a mirror. How do you manage to?
 

BOBDN

Banned
May 21, 2002
2,579
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CkG is always crying about paying Social Security taxes but he doesn't mind subsidizing Bush/Cheney and Halliburton.
rolleye.gif