U.S. Firms Vie for Iraq Rebuilding Deals
Mon Mar 10, 4:02 AM ET Add Business - Reuters to My Yahoo!
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Bush administration has asked at least five U.S. engineering firms, including a unit of Halliburton Co. , to bid for a post-war Iraq (news - web sites) rebuilding contract which may be worth as much as $900 million, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
The newspaper said all five bidders have submitted their bids or are preparing to do so after the U.S. Agency for International Development "quietly" sent out a detailed request soliciting proposals from the likely bidders.
According to the Journal, the Iraq reconstruction plan will require contractors to fulfill various tasks, including reopening at least half of the "economically important roads and bridges" -- about 1,500 miles of roadway -- to high-speed traffic.
The contractors will also be asked to repair 15 percent of high-voltage electricity grid, renovate several thousand schools and deliver 550 emergency generators within two months, the newspaper said.
It said the five infrastructure-engineering firms tapped to bid for the Iraq contract are Bechtel Group Inc., Fluor Corp., Houston-based Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root subsidiary; Louis Berger Group Inc. and Parsons Corp.
Halliburton spokeswoman Wendy Hall declined to comment on the Journal's report when contacted by Reuters, while officials from the other four companies did not immediately return calls seeking comment early on Monday morning.
The Journal, however, quoted Bechtel spokesman Jonathan Marshall as saying "we are interested in participating in this."
Halliburton's Kellogg Brown & Root has already won a contract to oversee any firefighting operations at Iraqi oilfields after any U.S.-led invasion, a Defense Department source said on Thursday. Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) served as Halliburton's chief executive officer from 1995 to 2000.
Halliburton shares closed on Friday at $20.66 on the New York Stock Exchange (news - web sites), while Fluor ended at $30.21. |
