The US military said today it had again extended a deadline for awarding two new contracts to repair Iraq's oil fields, giving Vice President Dick Cheney's old firm Halliburton more time under restricting other firms from competing.
The US Army Corps of Engineers said in October it would replace by the end of December a no-bid deal given in March to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR), which by last week had clocked up more than $1.72 billion in business.
But Army Corps spokesman Mr Bob Faletti said the "deadline window" had been extended until January 17th, 2004, although an announcement could be made after December 15th.
"Our goal is to make sure that we have a good contract and so we are giving ourselves that five-week window to ensure we have a good, solid contract," said Mr Faletti. In the meantime, he said KBR, which has also bid on the new deals, would continue its work in Iraq.
"This is not about KBR, it is about having a good solid contract," he said.
Democrat Mr Henry Waxman from California criticised the handling of the follow-up contracts.
"First, the administration said it would make Halliburton compete for the Iraqi oil contract by August, then October, then December. Now they're saying January. These inexplicable delays may be good for Halliburton, but they're costing the taxpayers a bundle," said Mr Waxman.
Mr Faletti said the deadline had been extended to give selection officials more time to look at the complicated bids and because of the coming holidays.
The work given to KBR in Iraq has been strongly criticised by Democrats, who allege cronyism and favoritism in handing out the deals.
Aside from the oil fields no-bid deal, KBR has a separate logistics contract with the military, with tasks ranging from building bases to delivering post and feeding US troops.
Last week, three Democratic lawmakers asked the Pentagon's inspector general to investigate alleged overpricing of petrol sent to Iraq by KBR.
Halliburton has strongly denied overpricing of fuel into the oil-rich country, which has suffered an oil shortage because its refineries are not running to capacity.
Companies interested in the new contracts include Halliburton, a US-British joint venture between Fluor Corp and AMEC Plc and another pairing between US Parsons Corp. and Australia's Worley Group.