Halliburton Unit/Army Pact -2: Subcontracts Firefighting
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
HOUSTON -- Halliburton Co.'s (HAL) Kellogg, Brown & Root engineering and construction has been awarded an Army Corps of Engineers contract to extinguish oil well fires in Iraq, the company announced Monday evening.
In a press release Monday, Kellogg, Brown & Root said the company will operate under a contingency plan the company drew up at the request of the Department of Defense earlier this year.
Defense Department spokesman Lt. Col. David Lapan said in March that the plan was commissioned under an existing services contract with Kellogg, Brown & Root.
Firefighting company Boots and Coots International Well Control Inc. (WEL ) left to battle fires in Iraq over the weekend as part of an alliance with Halliburton. Superior Energy Services Inc.'s (SPN) Wild Well Control unit also has an alliance with Halliburton, but a company spokesman couldn't be reached Monday to comment on the company's Iraq plans.
Kellogg, Brown & Root said initial tasks involve hazard and operational assessment, extinguishing oil well fires, capping oil well blowouts and responding to any oil spills. Afterward, the company will perform emergency repair, as directed, to provide for the continuity of operations of the Iraqi oil infrastructure.
"KBR was selected for this award based on the fact that KBR is the only contractor that could commence implementing the complex contingency plan on extremely short notice," the company said in the release.
As reported in The Wall Street Journal, those plans have been slowed by continued fighting in the region. Military officials barred U.S. oil-field contractors from the southern portion of Iraq's giant Rumaila field, saying the region wasn't safe enough for work to begin.
But Brig. Gen. Vince Brooks said Monday morning there were only seven oil well fires still burning. Following the Gulf War, there were 700 fires to be extinguished.
-By Roy R. Reynolds, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9208; roy.reynolds@dowjones.com
Updated March 25, 2003 9:18 a.m. |
