Eric Watkins
OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 22 – Halliburton agreed to pay Nigeria’s government $35 million to settle a bribery dispute that led to charges being filed against the firm and its former subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, involving construction of an LNG plant on Bonny Island.
Under the agreement, “all lawsuits and charges against KBR and Halliburton corporate entities and associated persons have been withdrawn,” Halliburton said, adding that it agreed to pay $32.5 million to the Nigerian government, plus $2.5 million in costs.
Nigerian officials had sought a settlement of $250 million in the case, which involved a cash-for-contract scandal concerning construction in Nigeria of the Bonny Island LNG plant by a consortium comprised of Technip SA, Snamprogetti Netherlands BV, JGC, and KBR.
Earlier this year, in a case brought by the US Department of Justice, Snamprogetti Netherlands BV and Technip SA agreed to pay $240 million criminal penalties each in a Foreign Corrupt Practices Act case involving bribes to officials in the construction of the LNG plant (OGJ Online, July 8, 2010)
In February 2009, KBR and Halliburton entered guilty pleas and agreed to pay a $402 million criminal fine to settle similar US charges related to the case (OGJ Online, Feb. 16, 2009).
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