Thursday, August 18, 2005
$100.00 A Gallon For Gas?! In Iraq?! (Yes, Children, Halliburton Is Involved.)
My friend Charles got me reading Business Week online awhile back, as it's often in the better bizmags where the real news is lurking. But I've been lax in my bizmag reading of late, and thus missed this little fact (hat tip to The Liquid List for finding it and putting it into its proper context):
With the U.S. Army spending $100 a gallon to buy gasoline and lug it to Iraq and Afghanistan for Humvees, the brass wants to cut its fuel costs. One possible solution: the Army National Automotive Center's push to boost the market for hybrid engine technology. In April, Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. (QTWW ) in Irvine, Calif., gave the Army the first of two jeep-like electric hybrids.And of course, who's charging the Army $100 a gallon for gas being used in Iraq -- even as gas at the pump in Iraqi gas stations costs only six cents (that's right, cents) per gallon? Why, Halliburton, of course. They're the ones who sell gas to the US Army. They used to charge "only" $1.59 per gallon, back in October of 2003, and that was sufficiently outrageous to get a lot of people accusing Halliburton of price-gouging. Now, they charge over sixty times as much. Ai-yi-yi. Is it noon somewhere? I could really use a drink right now.
More blogs about politics.
