Federal investigators, who have been looking into a possible bribery scheme involving Houston�s Halliburton Company and a Nigerian natural gas plant, are scrutinizing �multiple� projects both within and outside Nigeria, according to company filings.A report by Houston Chronicle on Thursday stated that recently uncovered information suggested that employees at Halliburton�s M.W. Kellogg Co � some time before 1998 � may have planned to funnel payments to government officials to land projects in countries outside Nigeria.
The report quoted a filing with US Securities and Exchange Commission by Halliburton subsidiary KBR.
The SEC has issued subpoenas seeking documents related to multiple projects from the last 20 years in and outside Nigeria, the filing said.
Halliburton spokeswoman, Cathy Mann would not discuss the investigations, saying in an e-mail: �As these are ongoing investigations, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.�
She did point out that the activities under investigation predate Halliburton�s acquisition of Dresser Industries, which owned M.W. Kellogg.
Halliburton officials have been scrutinising the activities of an unnamed agent.
The company said the agent had �worked with us outside of Nigeria on several current projects and on numerous older projects going back to the early 1980s.�
Halliburton officials are trying to determine whether this individual broke the law or violated the company�s code of conduct.
At the same time, Halliburton has been examining another agent involved in a project in Nigeria.
The company was tipped off by an unnamed joint venture partner about �allegations of wrongful payments� the agent may have made.
The Halliburton scam had been a subject of probe at the National Assembly but no officials of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and its joint venture partners in the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas have been named in the public hearings held on the scam.
Also, senior officials of Halliburton who were indicted in the course of prosecution have not disclosed the names of Nigerian officials they gave bribe to in the course of handling projects in Nigeria.
Halliburton officials have consistently made references to senior Nigerian government officials as receiving bribe from them.
Kellogg was merged with Halliburton�s Brown & Root to form Kellogg Brown & Root, now known as KBR.
The latest inquiries grew out of a long-running investigation into the construction of a $5.5bn natural gas liquefaction complex at Bonny Island in Nigeria�s Rivers State.
That facility was built by a Madeira, Portugal-based joint venture known as TSKJ. Kellogg held a 25 per cent stake in TSKJ. Other partners included France�s Technip; Snamprogetti Netherlands, a subsidiary of Italy�s Saipem; and Japan�s JGC Corp.
Halliburton officials have acknowledged that agents working for TSKJ may have made improper payments to Nigerian officials in connection with that project.
The SEC and Justice Department, as well as authorities in France, Nigeria, Switzerland and Britain have all been investigating.
Halliburton officials said they dis not expect those probes to be wrapped anytime soon.
The spokesmen for the Justice Department and the SEC declined to comment.
In August 2005 and then again in January, the SEC subpoenaed documents from Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. in relation to the TSKJ probe.