Bush/Cheney/War/Oil?$$$ "War Big Business for Halliburton"
Sun Mar 23,12:04 PM ET
By Carolyn Koo
NEW YORK (Reuters) - When it comes to making money from a war in Iraq (news - web sites), few can match the firepower of the company once headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.
Houston-based Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL - news) can build roads and bridges and camps for American forces. It can transport personnel and provide other logistics. It can fight any fires Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) might set. And after the war, assuming a U.S. victory, it can help restore Iraq's infrastructure and oil production.
While questions remain over how much the work will boost the company's stock price, Halliburton's KBR engineering and construction division "is basically the 'corps of engineers' to the U.S. military," said Jim Wicklund, an analyst at Banc of America Securities. "It is expected that the occupying army's infrastructure could in large part be supplied by KBR."
At the same time, the company's oilfield services business, which is second only to Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE:SLB - news), is likely to supply most of the heavy equipment to fight fires that Iraqi forces could set to oil wells and oil fields, as they did in Kuwait during the 1991 Persian Gulf War (news - web sites).
And should the U.S. emerge victorious, Halliburton -- which develops oil fields and drills for oil all over the world -- has the connections and businesses to play a major role in rebuilding Iraq and ramping the nation's oil production capacity back up to pre-1991 Persian Gulf War levels.
"They have the businesses. They have the government relationship already well-established, and, as we all know, Cheney was the CEO, so it makes logical sense," said Denis Walsh, an equity analyst who covers the energy sector for State Street Research and Management.
NO COMMENT ON CONTRACTS
A Halliburton spokeswoman declined to speculate on "what may or may not happen with regards to Iraq."
She referred all queries to the U.S. Department of Defense (news - web sites) (DOD) and the U.S. Agency for International Development, which both said that contracts for fighting fires and rebuilding Iraq's infrastructure have yet to be awarded. Neither agency would disclose whether Halliburton had submitted any bids. |
