Asbestos claimants OK Halliburton plan

Houston-based Halliburton said Friday that more than 97 percent of voting asbestos claimants approved the plan Thursday, though final certified results had not been tallied.

The voting results bring the oilfield services and construction company a step closer to filing the Chapter 11 case for its DII Industries and Kellogg, Brown & Root subsidiaries. The company still must certify voting results, wrap up final due diligence on claims and obtain board approval for a filing on or before Dec. 31.

A year ago Halliburton agreed to settle the claims for about $4 billion in cash and stock. The deal includes agreement on a reorganization plan for DII Industries, Kellogg Brown & Root and certain other subsidiaries.

The company had intended to resolve outstanding claims by Sept. 30, but more than 70,000 new asbestos claims threatened to push the amount needed to settle them higher than the $2.775 billion in cash set aside as part of the deal. Last month the company reached an agreement to limit the cash required to settle the claims to that amount.

Halliburton, once run by Vice President Dick Cheney, inherited most of the claims four years ago when the conglomerate, under Cheney's leadership, acquired Dresser Industries Inc. for $7.7 billion. Cheney left the company in 2000 to be George W. Bush's running mate.

This week Halliburton faced criticism from a Pentagon audit that found the vice president's former company may have overcharged the Army by $1.09 per gallon for nearly 57 million gallons of gasoline delivered to citizens in Iraq, according to senior defense officials.

Auditors found potential overcharges of up to $61 million for gasoline that a Halliburton subsidiary delivered as part of its no-bid contract to help rebuild Iraq's oil industry. But the officials who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity Thursday said Halliburton apparently didn't profit from the discrepancy, because the company may have paid a Kuwaiti subcontractor too much for the gasoline in the first place.

Halliburton responded that the company makes a few cents on the dollar when fuel is delivered from Kuwait to Iraq. Dave Lesar, Halliburton's chairman, president and chief executive, said the company welcomed "a thorough review" of all contracts.

Halliburton shares rose 59 cents to $25.28 in late morning trading on the New York Stock Exchange.