Army negotiating to replace Halliburton as oil importer [View All]

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/7192130.htm


WASHINGTON - The Army said Wednesday it is negotiating to replace Vice President Dick Cheney's former company as an importer of oil products into Iraq, but denied that the talks were related to Democratic allegations of price gouging by Halliburton.

Robert Faletti, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, said the Army needs to find a long-term importer to serve the Iraqi population and is talking with the U.S. military's fuel delivery agency.

Faletti confirmed the negotiations after they were disclosed by Reps. Henry Waxman of California and John Dingell of Michigan, two Democratic critics of the company that Cheney led before he ran for the vice presidency. The corps spokesman said the imports will be needed through the winter because of pipeline sabotage in Iraq.

The lawmakers said the Pentagon's Defense Energy Support Center imports military fuel from Kuwait to Iraq for $1.08 to $1.19 per gallon, compared with the $2.65 per gallon that Houston-based Halliburton charges the U.S. government under a no-bid Army contract.

Waxman and Dingell said Jeffrey Jones, the recently retired head of the fuel support center, agreed with them that Halliburton's price was too high.

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