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About POGO's Federal Contractor Misconduct Database (FCMD)
The government awards contracts to companies with histories of misconduct such as contract fraud and environmental, ethics, and labor violations. In the absence of a centralized federal database listing instances of misconduct, the Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is providing such data. We believe that it will lead to improved contracting decisions and public access to information about how the government spends hundreds of billions of taxpayer money each year on goods and services. Report an instance of misconduct »
Ranking: 118
Halliburton
Halliburton, founded in 1919, is one of the world's largest providers of products and services to the petroleum and energy industries. Halliburton has over 55,000 employees in approximately 70 countries and consists of two divisions: Drilling and Evaluation and Completion and Production. As of December 31, 2007, these two divisions accounted for over 15 billion dollars in revenue.
Federal Contract $: $ 0.0m
Total Number of Instances: 15
Total Misconduct dollar amount: $ 997.5m
- Annual Report
- Hoovers Profile
- Lobbying Information
- Political Activity
- Press Page
- SEC 10K
- Website
- Contracting Information
Instances of Misconduct
1. Ruckdeschel v. Falcon Drilling Company (Wrongful Death)
Heather Ruckdeschel and Thomas G. Miller, Sr., filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Halliburton, Texas Keystone, Inc., and Falcon Drilling Company arising from an explosion and fire that occurred in October 2005 at the Wiley No. 8 well site in Tyler County, Texas, resulting in the death of Thomas G. Miller, Jr., an employee of Falcon Drilling. According to the complaint, Texas Keystone was the owner of the well site, Falcon Drilling was the driller, and Halliburton was contracted by Texas Keystone to perform cementing work on the well. The complaint alleged the three companies were responsible for Miller’s death. Halliburton settled the lawsuit in late 2007 for $825,000.... more»
2. Nigeria LNG Contracts Bribery (Nigeria Prosecution)
It was reported that Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) filed charges against former U.S. Vice-President and Halliburton CEO Dick Cheney and officials from five companies, including Halliburton and KBR, over a bribery scheme involving the construction of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Nigeria (see pending KBR and Halliburton instances, “Nigeria LNG Contracts Bribery (UK Prosecution)”). In December 2010, EFCC agreed to drop the charges against Cheney. News accounts reported Halliburton agreed to pay $250 million in fines; however, Halliburton stated in a press release that the amount was $35 million (“$32.5 million to the FGN [Federal Government of Nigeria] and…an additional US$2.5 million for FGN’s attorneys’ fees and other expenses.”)... more»
3. Unauthorized Exports and Reexports
“On July 25, 1995, Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement John Despres signed an order assessing a civil penalty of $2,610,000 against the Halliburton Company of Texas. The civil penalty was the largest fine imposed by the Department [of Commerce] for export violations, and was part of a global settlement related to unauthorized exports and reexports of oil field equipment made to Libya by two Halliburton subsidiaries, Halliburton Logging Services (HLS) and Halliburton Geophysical Services (HGS).” See related Halliburton misconduct instance "Criminal Unauthorized Exports and Reexports."... more»
4. Criminal Unauthorized Exports and Reexports
In connection with a civil suit concerning “unauthorized exports and reexports of oil field equipment made to Libya by two Halliburton subsidiaries, Halliburton Logging Services (HLS) and Halliburton Geophysical Services (HGS),” Halliburton pled guilty to additional criminal charges and accepted “a criminal penalty of $1,200,000 for three violations of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act in connection with the export of the pulse neutron generators to Libya.” See related Halliburton misconduct instance "Unauthorized Exports and Reexports."... more»
5. ReedHycalog Patent Litigation
Halliburton will pay $30 million plus royalties to settle a patent dispute with National Oilwell Varco Inc.'s ReedHycalog division. The settlement includes a cross-licensing agreement that allows Halliburton to continue using the products involved in the dispute. ReedHycalog alleged that Halliburton, along with two other oilfield services companies, manufactured, leased, used and/or sold various kinds of drill bits and cutters that infringed ReedHycalog’s patents.... more»
6. Hazardous Waste Dumping
A federal jury in Alabama ordered Bredero Price Company, Bredero Shaw LLC, ShawCor Ltd. and Halliburton Energy Services Inc., to pay $108 million in damages to a Mobile-based landfill operator for dumping hazardous waste in its landfill. Halliburton and ShawCor, through the joint venture Bredero Price (later acquired by Bredero Shaw), owned a facility that chemically treated oil and natural gas pipes. The landfill operator, Dirt Inc., alleged that the defendants were responsible for depositing solid waste containing mercury in the landfill, which Dirt Inc. was ordered to clean up. According to a ShawCor statement, it and Halliburton are each responsible for half of the total award.... more»
7. Policemen and Firemen Retirement System of Detroit Shareholder Lawsuit
The Policemen and Firemen Retirement System of Detroit, a municipal pension fund, filed a lawsuit against Halliburton Company and its former subsidiary KBR alleging that poor oversight and lack of internal controls at the two companies enabled a pervasive environment of corruption that severely damaged investors' holdings. (KBR was later dropped from the lawsuit.) In July 2012, a proposed settlement was reached in which Halliburton agreed to take certain remedial actions, such as recovering incentive compensation paid to any officer or director who was involved in or approved illegal activities and revising its code of business conduct.... more»
8. Nigeria LNG Contracts Bribery (UK Prosecution)
In its 2009 SEC Form 10-K, Halliburton reported that M.W. Kellogg Ltd. (MWKL), a British joint venture in which KBR owns 55 percent interest, is seeking plea negotiations with the UK’s Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to settle its investigation into a Nigerian bribe scheme in which KBR and Halliburton pleaded guilty in 2009 to U.S. charges that, as part of a multinational consortium, they paid bribes to Nigerian officials from 1994 to 2004 to win contracts to build the Bonny Island liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility. Halliburton, which agreed to indemnify KBR and its subsidiaries for some past liabilities when the two companies split in 2007, reported that it will indemnify MWKL for 55 percent of any penalties. In February 2011, MWKL reached a £7,028,077 (approx. US$11.3 million) settlement with the SFO.... more»
9. Operating Industries Inc. Superfund Site Cleanup
Twelve companies, including Halliburton Energy Services, Inc., agreed to pay a $3.87 million settlement for their share of cleanup costs related to the Operating Industries, Inc. (OII) Superfund site in Monterey Park, California. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, each of these companies contributed more than the equivalent of 110,000 gallons of commercial, liquid waste to the OII Superfund site. The site was in operation between 1948 and 1984, during which time the landfill received residential and commercial refuse, liquid wastes, and a variety of hazardous wastes.... more»
10. Deepwater Horizon Coast Guard/BOEMRE Investigation
A joint investigation team (JIT) consisting of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEMRE) and the U.S. Coast Guard investigated the causes of the April 20, 2010, Deepwater Horizon explosion, loss of life, and resulting oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The JIT concluded that the decisions and actions of BP, Transocean, and Halliburton violated federal safety regulations and caused a blowout at the Macondo well, which led to the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig. Of the more than 50 causes, contributing causes, and possible contributing causes of the disaster, Halliburton was found partially responsible for at least two. (See pp. 194-199 of volume 2 of the final report for a summary of the JIT’s findings.)... more»
11. Barracuda & Caratinga Leasing v. KBR (Defective Bolts)
Halliburton announced that an arbitration panel ordered Halliburton to pay Barracuda & Caratinga Leasing Company (BCLC) $200 million related to a claim BCLC filed against Halliburton’s former subsidiary, KBR. KBR had a contract with BCLC for the development of the Barracuda and Caratinga oil fields off the coast of Brazil. BCLC claimed that certain subsea bolts used in the project were defective. The arbitration panel ruled that KBR was liable for the cost of replacing the bolts. (When KBR was spun off of Halliburton in 2007, Halliburton agreed to pay all the costs and expenses, cash settlements or cash arbitration awards related to the case.)... more»
12. April 2004 Iraq Convoy Driver Lawsuits
Lawsuits alleging negligence and fraud were filed by or on behalf of KBR truck drivers who were injured or killed while driving convoy assignments in Iraq in April 2004. In December 2011, Halliburton and KBR settled with plaintiff Reginald Cecil Lane for an undisclosed amount. The remaining lawsuits were dismissed on appeal in January 2012.... more»
13. BJ Services v. Halliburton (Patent Infringement)
The jury found that Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. infringed BJ's patent on its Vistar fracturing fluid and awarded BJ approximately $98.1 million in damages and approximately $3 million in prejudgment interest. The court also indicated that it would issue an injunction preventing Halliburton from further use of its Phoenix fracturing fluid that was determined by the jury to infringe the BJ patent.... more»
14. SEC v. Halliburton (Accounting Practices)
In response to Halliburton's failure to disclose a 1998 change to its accounting practice, the Securities and Exchange Commission began enforcement proceedings. As a result of that undisclosed change, Halliburton's public statements regarding its income in 1998 and 1999 were materially misleading. Halliburton agreed to settle the enforcement actions by consenting to a Commission order to cease and desist from committing or causing future securities law violations. Additionally, Halliburton and its former controller, Robert C. Muchmore, Jr., agreed to pay penalties of $7.5 million and $50,000, respectively.... more»
15. Bribery to Win International Government Contracts
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice conducted an investigation into whether former Halliburton subsidiary KBR was among several companies that paid $180 million in bribes to win a contract to build a natural gas liquefaction plant in Nigeria in the 1990s. The investigation focused on the activity of a joint venture that included KBR and three other companies. In February 2009, Halliburton and KBR settled with the SEC and DOJ. Halliburton agreed to pay $382 million and an additional $177 million in disgorgement.... more»
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