luna moth | 04.05.2005 14:29

Fluor Incorporated was awarded contracts for water treatment in Iraq. Given the importance of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in this desert climate, how much water is being used for US petroleum extraction??

Check out some info from Public Integrity website about little known yet powerful Fluor Inc and their involvement with water treatment appropriations. It may seem like a stretch but notice the spelling "fluor" is the same as in fluoride. Is it possible some fluoride compounds will be added to the Iraqi drinking water to ease the acceptance of the US occupation??

With the water of the Rios Tigris and Euphrates in high demand for both populations in Iraq and Turkey, the involvement of a corporation named Fluor in Iraq's water treatment should raise some eyebrows..

How much water is needed in the process of crude oil extraction??



Fluor Corp.
One Enterprise Drive
Aliso Viejo, CA 92656-2606
Phone: (949) 349-2000
Fax: (949) 349-2585
 http://www.fluor.com Profile


Background

Fluor Corporation, one of the world's largest publicly traded construction companies, had sales of nearly $10 billion in 2002. With a work force of nearly 50,000 employees in more than 25 countries across six continents, the company oversees construction projects for a large range of industrial sectors worldwide. According to its 2002 annual reports, the Fortune 500 company has an overall contract backlog of $9.7 billion. From 1990 to fiscal year 2002, the company received a little over $8.5 billion in U.S. government contracts.

Working on projects from Alaska's North Slope to Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, Fluor has experience in areas as diverse as oil and gas production to telecommunications. Off Russia's Pacific coast, on Sakhalin Island, the California-based company is building a plant for an international consortium that includes ExxonMobil. In North Carolina it helped build a large cell-culture facility, while in Kazakhstan it is developing oil and gas fields for a consortium whose largest member is ChevronTexaco.

In 2001, Fluor spent a total of $714,027 to lobby Congress, the White House, and various agencies, of which $374,027 was spent by the company's in-house lobbyists. In 2001, the company's lobbying disclosure report states that it lobbied on issues such as defense authorization, Terrorism insurance and appropriations for Energy and Water, Foreign Operations and Defense. In 2002, the company spent $672,899 on lobbying; $272,694 of that was spent in-house. In 2002, Fluor lobbied the same institutions and agencies on various Defense Department measures, Department of Energy and national security issues, and Commerce, Justice and State appropriations.

Iraq contracts

One of the leading U.S. government contractors, Fluor was one of the six companies invited to bid for the overall Iraqi reconstruction contract that the U.S. Agency for International Development eventually awarded to Bechtel. Although it lost out on that contract, Fluor, through its Greenville, S.C., branch Fluor Intercontinental, is present in Iraq as a subcontractor to the Air Force Augmentation Program, which provides support for existing U.S. Air Force contracts. AFCAP, under a $4 million initial contract, provides a broad range of logistical support such as warehousing, bottled water supply, trucking and customs clearance to USAID and its contractors working on the Iraqi reconstruction effort. The award can be increased to up to $26 million over 12 months.

With its deep roots in the region—Fluor provided engineering services when Saudi Arabia developed its oil industry half a century ago —the company announced a joint-venture with AMEC plc, one of Britain's leading engineering and construction firms, to join the bidding for two $500 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contracts that will replace the emergency oil management contract given to Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root in March 2003. The bid deadline was Aug. 14, 2003. The two companies are no strangers to each other as they are currently working together in Angola, Canada, the Philippines, South Korea and the United States. Fluor will own 51 percent while AMEC will own 49 percent.

On April 4, 2003, the Army Corps of Engineers' Transatlantic Programs Center announced that it had awarded three contracts "to rapidly execute design and construction services as needed anywhere" in the area of operations for the U.S. military's Central Command. The one-year contracts, awarded to Fluor Intercontinental, Washington Group International and Perini Corporation, are indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity (ID/IQ) contracts with initially a guaranteed minimum value of $500,000 and a maximum of $100 million per contract. However, in late September 2003, the Army Corps of Engineers issued additional task orders totaling $278 million for the three companies and the Corps decided to raise the individual contract ceiling from $100 million to $500 million. Washington Group International will repair electrical infrastructure in northern Iraq while Fluor and Perini will perform similar work in central and southern Iraq.


Afghanistan contracts

According to the Pentagon, the same Army Corps of Engineers contracts won by Fluor Continental, along with Perini and Washington Group International, will cover work performed by the companies in Afghanistan. There, they will rebuild damaged roads and replace a destroyed bridge in Afghanistan as part of their individual contracts to support CENTCOM. Those contracts have a minimum value of $500,000 and a maximum of $500 million.

Government ties

Fluor's former chairman and chief executive officer Philip J. Carroll Jr., oversees restructuring Iraq's oil industry. The 65-year old former oil-industry executive—he spent 37 years with Shell—is chairman of the board advising Thamir Ghadhban, the Iraqi appointed to head Iraq's oil ministry during the U.S. occupation. According to the British newspaper the Guardian, Carroll receives more than $1 million in retirement benefits and bonuses from Fluor, which are tied to the company's performance. In addition, he owns shares worth an estimated $34 million. Carroll acknowledged in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he could be accused of a conflict of interest, but he stressed that he would attempt to avoid any conflicts. "I will stay so far away from any consideration of the bidding process, evaluation process or even the administration and arbitration of things associated with any of those companies in which I have a financial interest. ... I will have absolutely nothing to do with it," Carroll told the Los Angeles Times.

The company has also hired several former government officials. After losing out to Bechtel on the Iraq contract, Fluor hired David Marventano, a Beltway insider, in May 2003 to help get back on the offensive. Most recently, Marventano was the staff director of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. He has also held staff positions with Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., and former Rep. Bill Paxon, R.-N.Y.

Vice president of strategy and government services, Kenneth J. Oscar was acting assistant secretary of the Army before joining Fluor in April 2002. Oscar directed an annual $35 billion procurement budget and managed research, development, production and maintenance of all weapon systems, and supervised the career management of 35,000 military and civilian acquisition personnel. Oscar also is a former acting administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy in the Office of Management and Budget and former deputy assistant secretary of Procurement for the Army.

Bobby R. Inman, a board member since 1985, is a retired admiral who served as director of the National Security Agency and deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He also sits on the board of Science Applications International Corporation, a large defense contractor.

Updates

As of May 20, 2004

On March 23, 2004, the Program Management Office awarded Fluor two contracts with ceilings of respectively $500 million and $600 million. Both contracts, one for the south and one for the north, are for rehabilitation and construction of water treatment plants, sewer collection, and solid waste management. Fluor also has two contracts worth nearly $155 million for electrical power generation. These contracts were awarded by PMO in February 2004.

—André Verlöy


 http://www.publicintegrity.org/wow/bio.aspx?act=pro&ddlC=21