Halliburton Must Repay Overcharges, If Allegations Are True, Bush Says
By: Administrative Account | Source: CNSNews.com
December 13, 2003 10:53AM EST

By Melanie Hunter
CNSNews.com Deputy Managing Editor
December 12, 2003

(CNSNews.com) - President Bush says if Halliburton overcharged the U.S. Defense Department for oil, the administration expects the money to be repaid.

During a press conference to announce the new head of the Housing and Urban Department, Bush disputed claims that the Halliburton issue is like an "albatross" around the president's and Vice President Dick Cheney's neck.

"I expect anybody doing business with the United States government to be transparent and to give the taxpayers a good return on their money, that's what I expect. And if anybody's overcharging the government, we expect them to repay that money," Bush said.

Bush said an investigation "will lay the facts out for everybody to see, and if there's an overcharge, like we think there is, we expect that money to be repaid."

Pentagon officials reportedly discovered that Halliburton may have overcharged the U.S. Army up to $61 million for gas that a subsidiary delivered as part of its no-bid contract to help rebuild Iraq's oil industry.

Kellogg, Brown & Root may have overcharged by $1.09 per gallon for nearly 56 million gallons delivered to Iraqi citizens, senior defense officials said.

Halliburton Friday expressed confidence that the investigation will clear the company of the overcharge allegations.

"It is not fact that KBR has overcharged," Reuters quoted Dave Lesar, chairman and chief executive Halliburton, as saying. "KBR has acted in full accordance with its fiduciary and contractual responsibilities."

The Associated Press reports that Halliburton did not profit from the discrepancy, according to officials who briefed reporters Thursday on condition of anonymity.

Lesar told Reuters that Halliburton has tried to transfer the fuel delivery mission to a local supplier, but the company, the Army, and the United States' Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq, have been unable to find a replacement. He said the company "only makes a few cents on the dollar" for fuel deliveries.

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