Pentagon auditors have put under question $108.4 million that Halliburton charged the U.S. government to deliver fuel to Iraq as part of a no-bid contract to rebuild the country’s oil infrastructure, raising questions about the company’s expenditures to support the military effort.

The audit, completed in October but released on March 15 by congressional Democrats, accuses Halliburton of failing to demonstrate appropriate justification for its expenditures.

Pentagon auditors previously stated that Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root may have overcharged the U.S. by $61 million from May through September 2003 for shipments of gasoline, kerosene and other fuels, according to the Wall Street Journal. The new audit examines billing and procurement paperwork provided by the company.

Halliburton, the main military subcontractor in Iraq, already tackles with a number of investigations into its Iraq work. The fuel shipment has been among those of the highest priority. The U.S. Justice Department holds an open civil-fraud inquiry into a possible Halliburton overcharge for the fuel delivery, and federal investigators are looking into whether the Pentagon gave a certain undeserved preference to Halliburton awarding it the oil-field reconstruction contract.

Halliburton officials have declined all the accusations on this matter.

Under the Restore Iraqi Oil contract Halliburton got 10 “task orders” and the fuel shipments were among them. Halliburton charged the government a total of $2.5 billion for its service. According to the terms of its cost-plus contract, the company is to get an award of 2% above approved final expenses and could pretend to earn a bonus of an additional 5%.

The audit released on March 15 studies only the fuel-shipment work Halliburton conducted in 2003 and 2004. The Houston-based company billed $887.4 million for that work, but military auditors have found out $108.4 million in "questioned costs."