A unit of Halliburton the Texas oil giant once led by US Vice President Dick Cheney, has received more than $800 million in work orders in Iraq so far, according to military figures obtained today.
The bulk of the orders are under a military contract awarded in December 2001 to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg, Brown & Root.
That 2001 contract, called the Logistics Civil Augmentation Program does not have a ceiling. By the end of May, task orders for Iraq accounted for $596.8 million of the $708 million earmarked under that deal.
Under that contract, the Halliburton subsidiary has provided housing, recreation, laundry, power and sanitation for troops in Iraq, said Dan Carlson, a spokesman for US Army Field Support Command.
Kellogg Brown & Root has a separate contract with the US Army Corps of Engineers to repair and operate Iraq's oil wells.
That contract was awarded in March in a no-competition bidding process.
By June 13th, $213 million had been budgeted under the contract to Kellogg. The contract has a ceiling of $7 billion but the US Army Corps of Engineers is expected soon to open up this contract to competitive bids.
Several Democrats have complained about the amount of work given to Halliburton, suggesting the company's close links to the White House brought business to the firm, a view the White House strongly rejects.