More trouble for Halliburton - and for us: A Halliburton subsidiary is under investigation by the US stock market regulator over allegations it paid bribes for Nigerian gas contracts. Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR) and three other partner firms allegedly paid $180m (£99m) in bribes, the SEC says. US Vice President Dick Cheney was head of oil services conglomerate Halliburton at the time. Halliburton says it has become a political target and insists it did nothing wrong. The Nigerian government ordered the investigation in February and lawyers have since been studying the payments.