Halliburton awarded new $1.8 BILLION contract amidst bribe scandal

[Bluebear]

LAGOS, April 8 (Xinhuanet) -- A subsidiary of Halliburton, a US-based oil services firm plagued by several bribe probes into its overseas operations, has been awarded with its partners a 1.7-billion-dollar contract to build a gas-to-liquids plant in Nigeria.

The subsidiary called KBR said Friday that Nigeria's state-run oil firm NNPC and ChevronTexaco awarded its joint venture with Italy's Eni unit Snamprogetti and JGC of Japan the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) for the Escravos plant.

Halliburton is reportedly being investigated by the Nigerian authorities over the alleged payment of 180 million dollars bribe to win contracts for the construction of a gas plant.

Besides, the firm was banned last September by Nigeria from awarding government contracts for its non-cooperation in the investigation of the loss of radioactive materials from the oil-producing Niger Delta region in 2002.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-04/09/content_2806189.htm