NEW YORK— Halliburton (HAL) unit KBR is paying much more than local buyers to bring fuel into Iraq, Congressional Democrats charged Tuesday, ratcheting up their criticism of the company's controversial no-bid contract to restore Iraq's oil industry.
KBR is billing the U.S. $1.59 a gallon to import gasoline into Iraq, about 60% more than what Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organization is paying to move fuel from the same selling countries to the same locations inside the country, Reps. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and John Dingell, D-Mich., wrote in an open letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is administering the contract.
The difference in costs is evidence that KBR is overcharging for the work, wrote the lawmakers, who have consistently attacked the contract.
"We now have concrete evidence that Halliburton is wrong and that gasoline can be—and indeed has been— imported into Iraq for under $1.00 per gallon," the representatives wrote.
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