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{{Short description|American Engineering Firm}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Fluor Corporation
| logo = [[Image:Logo FLUOR.svg|center|250px|Fluor Logo]]
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{ubl|{{NYSE|FLR}}|[[List of S&P 400 companies|S&P 400]] component}}
| foundation = {{start date and age|1912}}<br>[[Santa Ana, California]]
| location = [[Irving, Texas]], United States
| key_people = [[David E. Constable]] ([[Chief Executive Officer|CEO]])
| founder = John Simon Fluor
| revenue = {{increase}} {{US$|15.5 billion|link=yes}} {{small|(2023)}}<ref name="Fluor Report">{{Cite web|url=https://newsroom.fluor.com/news-releases/news-details/2024/Fluor-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-and-Full-Year-2023-Results/default.aspx|title=Fluor Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2023 Results|publisher=Fluor}}</ref>
| net_income = {{increase}} {{US$|+139 million}} {{small|(2023)}}<ref name="Fluor Report"/>
| num_employees = 40,582 {{small|(2022)}}<ref name="fortune5002022" />
| industry = Engineering and [[construction]]
| website = {{URL|fluor.com}}
| divisions = 
}}
'''Fluor Corporation''' is an American multinational engineering and [[construction firm]], headquartered in [[Irving, Texas]]. It is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries in three main areas: oil and gas, industrial and infrastructure, government and power. It is the largest publicly traded engineering and construction company in the [[Fortune 500]] rankings and is listed as 265th overall.<ref name="fortune5002022">{{Cite web|url=https://fortune.com/company/fluor/fortune500/|title=2023 Fortune 500|website=Fortune|language=en-US|access-date=May 31, 2022}}</ref>

Fluor was founded in 1912 by John Simon Fluor as Fluor Construction Company. It grew quickly, predominantly by building oil refineries, pipelines, and other facilities for the oil and gas industry, at first in California, and then in the Middle East and globally. In the late 1960s, it began diversifying into oil drilling, coal mining and other raw materials like lead. A global recession in the oil and gas industry and losses from its mining operation led to restructuring and layoffs in the 1980s. Fluor sold its oil operations and diversified its construction work into a broader range of services and industries.

In the 1990s, Fluor introduced new services like equipment rentals and staffing. Nuclear waste cleanup projects and other environmental work became a significant portion of Fluor's revenues. The company also did projects related to the [[Manhattan Project]], rebuilding after the [[Iraq War]], recovering from [[Hurricane Katrina]] and building the [[Trans-Alaska Pipeline System]].

==Corporate history==
===Early history===
[[File:Fluor Bros Construction headquarters early 1900s.jpg|thumb|left|Headquarters of Fluor Bros Construction in the early 1900s]]Fluor Corporation's predecessor, Rudolph Fluor & Brother, was founded in 1890 by John Simon Fluor<ref name="onthology"/> and his two brothers in Oshkosh, Wisconsin<ref name="Levy1993">{{cite book|author=Sidney M. Levy|title=Japan's big six: case studies of Japan's largest contractors|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRC2AAAAIAAJ|year=1993|publisher=McGraw-Hill Ryerson, Limited|isbn=978-0-07-037522-2}}</ref> as a saw and paper mill.<ref name="onthology">{{cite book
 | last =Mitchell
 | first =Julie
 | title =Notable Corporate Chronologies
 | publisher =Gale Group
 | volume =1
 | edition =Third
 | year =2001
 | pages =885–886
 | isbn =0-7876-5050-1
}}</ref> John Fluor acted as its president<ref name="onthology"/> and contributed $100 in personal savings to help the business get started.<ref name="three">{{cite news|first=Sherry|last=Jackson|title=Fluor, One Hundred Years and Still Going Strong|url=http://www.greenville.com/news/fluor,onu0812.html|newspaper=Greenville|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref> The company was renamed Fluor Bros. Construction Co. in 1903.<ref name="onthology"/>

In 1912 John Fluor moved to Santa Ana, California for health reasons without his brothers<ref name="two"/> and founded Fluor Corporation out of his garage<ref name="one"/> under the name Fluor Construction Company.<ref name="two">{{cite news|first=Gary|last=Jacobson|title=With a symphonic tribute, Irving-based Fluor celebrates past, launches into second century|publisher=Dallas News|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/business/headlines/20120423-with-a-symphonic-tribute-irving-based-fluor-celebrates-past-launches-into-second-century.ece|date=April 23, 2012|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref><ref name="five"/> By 1924 the business had annual revenues of $100,000 ($1.56 million in 2021 dollars)<ref name="onthology"/> and a staff of 100 employees. John Fluor delegated most of the company's operations to his sons, Peter and Simon Fluor.<ref name="Pederson2000"/> A $100,000 capital investment was made that year and it was incorporated.<ref name="onthology"/> John's eldest son Peter served as head of sales and grew the company to $1.5 million ($20.4 million in 2013 dollars) in revenues by 1929.<ref name="Pederson2000"/> In 1929 the company re-incorporated as Fluor Corporation.<ref name="onthology"/> By the 1930s, Fluor had operations in Europe, the Middle East and Australia.<ref name="three"/><ref name="four"/> Business declined rapidly during the [[Great Depression]], but picked up again during [[World War II]]. During the war Fluor manufactured [[synthetic rubber]] and was responsible for a substantial portion of high-octane gasoline production in the United States.<ref name="three"/> A Gas-Gasoline division of Fluor was created in Houston in 1948.<ref name="onthology"/>

Fluor's headquarters were moved to [[Alhambra, California|Alhambra]], an inner suburb of Los Angeles, in 1940 in order to be closer to its oil and gas clients, before moving again to [[Orange County, California|Orange County]], California in the 1960s due to concerns about the cost of living and traffic.<ref name="one"/> John Simon Fluor died in 1944. He was succeeded by his son Peter Fluor, who died three years later. Peter was followed by Shirley Meserve (1947) and Donald Darnell (1949), then John Simon "Si" Fluor Jr. in 1952 and J. Robert (Bob) Fluor in 1962.<ref name="onthology"/><ref name="fluorbook">{{cite book|title=A Passion to Build: The Story of Fluor Corporation's First 100 Years|author=Fluor|publisher=Harper|year=2012|isbn=978-0-06-208962-5}}</ref> Fluor was listed on the [[New York Stock Exchange]] in the 1950s.<ref name="fortunearch"/> In 1961, Fluor acquired an interest in construction, design and contracting firm William J. Moran.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor acquires interest in moran firm|date=November 10, 1961|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|pages=C15}}</ref>

===Diversification and restructuring===
Fluor diversified its business more extensively in 1967, when five companies were merged into a division called Coral Drilling and it started a deep-water oil exploration business in Houston called Deep Oil Technology. It also created Fluor Ocean Services in Houston in 1968<ref name="onthology"/> and acquired an interest in other fossil fuel operations in the 1970s.<ref name="fortunearch"/> Fluor acquired a construction company, Pike Corp. of America<ref name="onthology"/> and the engineering division of its prior partner in Australia, Utah Construction.<ref name="fluorbook"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor makes presence felt|first=Michael|last=Gill|date=December 17, 1980|access-date=January 1, 2013|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1300&dat=19801217&id=ae5UAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mpIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1915,518652|newspaper=The Age}}</ref> In 1972, Fluor bought land in [[Irvine, California]] and started building its new headquarters on it.<ref name="one">{{cite news|title=Fluor to leave Southland for New Home in Dallas|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-may-11-fi-fluor11-story.html|date=May 11, 2005|first=John|last=O’Dell|access-date=December 18, 2013|newspaper=LA Times}}</ref> The following year, the company's oil and gas operations were consolidated under a new entity, Fluor Oil and Gas Corp.<ref name="onthology"/>

In 1977, Fluor acquired Daniel International Corporation.<ref name="Henriques">{{cite news|last=Henriques|first=Diana B.|title=Buck Mickel, 72, an Executive Who Aided Expansion of Fluor|newspaper=The New York Times|page=16|date=July 25, 1998|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/25/business/buck-mickel-72-an-executive-who-aided-expansion-of-fluor.html}}</ref> Fluor's business had become predominantly international, while Daniel International's $1 billion construction business was mostly domestic. The acquisition allowed the company to use union labor at Fluor, or non-union labor at Daniel, for each client.<ref name="fortunearch"/> Fluor made a $2.9 billion acquisition of a zinc, gold, lead and coal mining operation, [[St. Joe Minerals]], in 1981<ref name="Cole">{{cite news|last=Cole|first=Robert J.|title=Fluor Plans to Acquire St. Joe|newspaper=The New York Times|page=1|date=April 1, 1981|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/01/business/fluor-plans-to-acquire-st-joe.html|access-date=January 31, 2014}}</ref> after a bidding competition for the business with [[Seagram]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Seagram drops bid for St. Joe as SEC probes insider trading|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19810408&id=G20aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ySsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6596,5427953|date=April 8, 1981|access-date=December 26, 2013|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|archive-date=April 10, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160410093819/http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19810408&id=G20aAAAAIBAJ&sjid=ySsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6596,5427953|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Madrick2003">{{cite book|author=Jeff Madrick|title=Taking America: How We Got from the First Hostile Takeover to Megamergers, Corporate Raiding, and Scandal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_y5b6K8M1gYC&pg=PA201|date=November 1, 2003|publisher=Beard Books|isbn=978-1-58798-217-0|pages=201}}</ref>

By the 1980s, Fluor's primary business was building large refineries, petrochemical plants, oil pipelines and other facilities for the gas and oil industry,<ref name="eighteen">{{cite news|title=Flush times for Fluor|newspaper=Fortune Magazine|first=Nancy|last=Perry|date=November 6, 1989|access-date=December 12, 2013|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1989/11/06/72707/index.htm}}</ref> especially in the Middle East.<ref name="eighteen"/><ref name="twentyone">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/08/business/fluor-s-profits-decline-9.html|publisher=Associated Press|date=March 8, 1991|access-date=December 19, 2013|title=Fluor's Profits Decline 9%}}</ref> By 1981, Fluor's staff had grown to 29,000 and revenue, backlog, and profits had each increased more than 30 percent over the prior year.<ref name="HollieTimes">{{cite news|last=Hollie|first=Pamela|title=Fluor's Road to Diversification|newspaper=The New York Times|page=1|date=April 2, 1981|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/02/business/fluor-s-road-to-diversification.html|access-date=January 30, 2014}}</ref> However, by 1984 the mining operation was causing heavy losses<ref name="bwbw">{{cite news|newspaper=BusinessWeek|date=October 4, 1992|title=Cleaning up at Fluor|url= http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1992-10-04/cleaning-up-at-fluor|archive-url= https://archive.today/20140228192237/http://www.businessweek.com/stories/1992-10-04/cleaning-up-at-fluor|url-status= dead|archive-date= February 28, 2014|access-date=December 27, 2013}}</ref> and the oil and gas industry Fluor served was in a worldwide recession<ref name="nine"/> due to declining oil prices.<ref name="eighteen"/><ref name="“bar">{{cite news|newspaper=Barron’s|first=Harlan|last=Byrne|title=Fluor Corp.|date=October 21, 1991|pages=51–52}}</ref> From 1981 to 1984, Fluor's backlog went from $16 billion to $4 billion.<ref name="eighteen"/> In 1985 it reported $633 million in losses.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Fortune|first=Claire|last=Poole|title=The Virtues of Diversification|date=January 7, 1991|pages=126–128}}</ref>  David Tappan took Bob Fluor's place as CEO in 1984 after Bob died from cancer<ref name="eighteen"/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2209&dat=19820213&id=EaMrAAAAIBAJ&sjid=n_wFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5586,3056990|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|title=Restructuring program planned by Fluor Corporation|date=February 13, 1982|access-date=December 26, 2013}}</ref><ref name="six"/> and led a difficult restructuring.<ref name="seven">{{cite news|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-12-16-fi-9380-story.html|date=December 16, 1990|access-date=December 18, 2013|title= The Man Who Guided Fluor Through Tough Times Stepping Down|first=Leslie|last=Berkman}}</ref>

The company sold $750 million in assets, including Fluor's headquarters in Irvine, in order to pay $1 billion in debt.<ref name="six"/><ref name="seven"/> Staff were reduced from 32,000 to 14,000.<ref name="eighteen"/> In 1986 Fluor sold all of its oil assets and some of its gold mining operations.<ref name="onthology"/><ref name="Times">{{cite news|title=Fluor May Sell Oil, Gas Units|newspaper=The New York Times|page=3|date=October 11, 1985|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/10/11/business/fluor-may-sell-oil-gas-units.html|access-date=January 24, 2014}}</ref> Fluor Engineers, Inc. and Daniel International were merged, forming Fluor Daniel.<ref name="onthology"/> By 1987, Fluor had returned to profitability with $26.6 million in profits<ref name="eleven">{{cite news|date=December 17, 1989|first=Leslie|last=Berkman|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-12-17-fi-1824-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|access-date=December 18, 2013|title=Fluor President Takes Creative Route to Revival }}</ref> and $108.5 million by 1989.<ref name="six">{{cite news|title=Tappan led Fluor back into black|date=December 31, 1989|newspaper=The Orange County Register|pages=L01}}</ref> By the end of the restructuring, Fluor had three major divisions: Fluor Daniel, Fluor Construction International and St. Joe Minerals Corp. Each division had its own smaller subsidiaries.<ref name="onthology"/> Fluor started being named by ''Engineering News'' as the largest construction and engineering company in the United States.<ref name="eighteen"/><ref name="nine"/> Fluor's international revenues rebounded.<ref name="fourteen"/> Having postponed his retirement to help Fluor, Tappan stepped down at the end of 1989 and was replaced by Leslie McCraw.<ref name="nine">{{cite news|title=Architect of Fluor's Revival to Step Down at End of '89|url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-09-14-fi-423-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=September 14, 1989|first=Leslie|last=Berkman|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Cuff">{{cite news|last=Cuff|first=Daniel F.|title=Business People; Fluor Official Poised To Succeed Chairman|newspaper=The New York Times|page=3|date=January 18, 1988|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/18/business/business-people-fluor-official-poised-to-succeed-chairman.html}}</ref>

===Recent history===
During the restructuring, Fluor's core construction and engineering work was diversified into 30 industries including food, paper manufacturers, prisons and others to reduce its vulnerability to market changes in the oil and gas market.<ref name="eighteen"/><ref name="nine"/> In the 1990s, the company tried to change its image, calling itself a "diversified technical services" firm.<ref name="eighteen"/><ref name="twenty">{{cite news|title=Diversification fits Fluor|first=Richard|last=Korman|date=June 12, 1995|newspaper=Engineering News}}</ref> It started offering equipment rentals, staffing services, and financing for construction projects.<ref name="eighteen"/><ref name="twenty"/> The company began offering environmental cleanup and pollution control services, which grew to half of its new business by 1992.<ref name="bwbw"/> Fluor's mining business grew from $300 million in 1990 to $1 billion in 1994.<ref name="thirteen">{{cite news|title=Fluor how to mine human resources|newspaper=Fortune|date=February 21, 1994|first=Nancy|last=Perry|url= https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1994/02/21/78986/index.htm|access-date=December 27, 2013}}</ref> The US government passed environmental regulations in 1995 that led to growth for the Massey Coal Co. business, because it had large reserves of low-sulfur coal.<ref name="respect">Reingold, J. (1995). No respect. Financial World, 164(7), 36.</ref> In 1992, Fluor sold its ownership of Doe Run Company, the world's largest producer of refined lead, which was losing money at the time due to declining lead prices.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor to Sell Doe Run Lead-Producing Unit|work=The New York Times|date=December 1992 |page=6|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/01/business/company-news-fluor-to-sell-doe-run-lead-producing-unit.html}}</ref> By 1993, Fluor had revenues of $4.17 billion and 22,000 staff.<ref name="onthology"/>

In 1997, Fluor's revenues fell almost 50 percent, in part due to the [[Asian financial crisis]]<ref name="twelve"/> and a decrease in overseas business.<ref name="fourteen">{{cite news|first=Sylvia|last=Nasar|date=June 5, 1989|title=America Still Reigns in Services|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1989/06/05/72082/index.htm|newspaper=Fortune|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref><ref name="Pollack">{{cite news|last=Pollack|first=Andrew|title=Fluor Sees Plunge in Profits Of $100 Million for the Year|work=The New York Times|page=10|date=4 November 1997|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/11/04/business/fluor-sees-plunge-in-profits-of-100-million-for-the-year.html}}</ref> Additionally, it suffered losses from an over-budget power plant project<ref>{{cite news|author=F. R.|date=November 4, 1997|title=Fluor's gloomy prediction sends stock tumbling|newspaper=Wall Street Journal}}</ref> in Rabigh, Saudi Arabia. Fluor was a sub-contractor to [[General Electric]] for the project. Fluor's subsidiaries sued GE alleging that it misrepresented the complexity of the project.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Engineering News|date=October 26, 1998|first=Mary|last=Powers|title=Fluor Sues GE over Saudi Plant}}</ref> Though revenues declined further the following year, profits were increasing.<ref name="onthology"/> In 1999, nearly 5,000 workers were laid off from Fluor Daniel and 15 offices were closed. Fluor Daniel was re-structured into four business groups: an engineering and construction firm called Fluor Daniel; an equipment rental, staffing and telecommunications division called Fluor Global Services; a coal-mining business called A.T. Massey Coal Co. and an administrative and support division called Fluor Signature Services.<ref name="twelve"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor to cut 5,000 jobs|date=March 9, 1999|publisher=CNN Money|url= http://cnnfn.cnn.com/1999/03/09/companies/fluor/|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref>

In January 1998, McCraw (age 63) resigned after being diagnosed with bladder cancer<ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor Chief Ailing but says Company's in 'Excellent Shape'|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-dec-12-fi-63184-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=December 12, 1997|first=John|last=O’Dell|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Chief of Irvine's Fluor Corp. to Step Down|date=December 11, 1997|first=John|last=O’Dell|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-dec-11-mn-62953-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> and was replaced by former Shell Oil President, Philip J. Carroll.<ref name="lkjl">{{cite news|title=Fluor Taps Shell Oil President as CEO|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-apr-16-fi-39739-story.html|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|first=John|last=O’Dell|access-date=December 26, 2013}}</ref> That same year, IT Group purchased a 54 percent interest in Fluor Daniel GTI, Fluor's environmental division, for $36.3 million.<ref name="onthology"/> Two years later, the coal mining operation under the A.T. Massey Coal Co. name (part of St. Joe) was spun off into its own business.<ref name="twelve">{{cite news|title=Fluor Corp. splits in two|date=June 8, 2000|url=http://cnnfn.cnn.com/2000/06/08/companies/fluor/|publisher=CNN Money|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref> In 2001, Fluor's four primary subsidiaries were consolidated into a single Fluor Corporation.<ref name="fluorbook"/> In 2002 Alan Boeckmann was appointed as the CEO, followed by David Seaton in 2011.<ref name="fluorbook"/> In 2005, Fluor's headquarters were moved to the [[Las Colinas]] area in [[Irving, Texas]].<ref name="four">{{cite news|newspaper=Texas Construction|date=September 1, 2006|title=Fluor Settles In; New Campus Ready After Eight Months of Construction |first=Jennifer|last=Duell|pages=20}}</ref>

In December 2015, Fluor announced that it would take over Dutch industrial services company [[Stork B.V.|Stork]].<ref name="Reuters 2015">{{cite web | title=Fluor to buy Stork of the Netherlands for $755 million | website=Reuters | date=December 7, 2015 | url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-stork-m-a-fluor-idUSKBN0TQ0NJ20151207 | access-date=December 9, 2015}}</ref> The acquisition of this company, which modifies and maintains large power plants, was completed in March 2016, in a stock purchase worth $755 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/Article/3534284/Latest-News/Fluor-finalizes-acquisition-of-Dutch-industrial-services-group-Stork.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315040458/http://www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com/Article/3534284/Latest-News/Fluor-finalizes-acquisition-of-Dutch-industrial-services-group-Stork.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 15, 2016|title=Fluor finalizes acquisition of Dutch industrial services group Stork, owned by James Industries of Portsouth {{!}} Hydrocarbon Processing {{!}} March 2016|website=www.hydrocarbonprocessing.com|access-date=2016-03-14}}</ref>

In May 2019, David Seaton stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Carlos Hernandez, who joined the firm in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.enr.com/articles/46798-as-fluor-numbers-tumble-new-leadership-faces-challenges|title=As Fluor Numbers Tumble, New Leadership Faces Challenges|last=Rubin|first=Debra|date=2019-05-05|website=Engineering News-Record|language=en|access-date=2019-10-11}}</ref>

==Organization==
Fluor was ranked 259th in Fortune 500 companies for the year 2022.<ref name="fortune5002022"/> It has offices in 25 countries. Many of Fluor's operations are located near natural resources, such as uranium in Canada, oil reserves in the Middle East and mines in Australia. About 30 percent of Fluor's revenues are based in the United States as of 2011.<ref name="swot"/> 

Fluor received an "A" ranking in [[Transparency International]]'s 2012 anti-corruption study.<ref>{{cite news|title=New index ranks defence firms by their anti-corruption measures|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/oct/04/transparency-international-uk-defence-companies-anti-corruption|newspaper=The Guardian|date=October 4, 2012|access-date=December 26, 2013}}</ref> The company hosts online and in-person anti-corruption training sessions for staff and operates an ethics hotline. Former CEO Alan Boeckmann helped create the Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), whereby companies agree to a set of ethics principles.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor's corporate crime-fighter|url=https://money.cnn.com/2009/02/05/news/companies/Fluors_crime_fighter.fortune/|newspaper=Fortune Magazine|date=February 9, 2009|first=Mina|last=Kimes|access-date=December 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305032815/https://money.cnn.com/2009/02/05/news/companies/Fluors_crime_fighter.fortune/|archive-date=March 5, 2014|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref> A MarketLine SWOT analysis said Fluor's environmental work "enhances the company's brand image," while often lengthy and unpredictable legal disputes "tarnish the company's brand image and will erode customer confidence."<ref name="swot"/>

It started the Fluor Foundation for its charitable work in 1952 and Fluor Cares in 2010.<ref name="fluorbook"/> The company started the largest employer-sponsored apprenticeship program in California with a four-year program for designers in 1982.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor finances program to train design staff|newspaper=Engineering News-Record|date=March 18, 1982|page=206}}</ref> Fluor operates a virtual college for employees called Fluor University.<ref>{{cite news|title=Developing graduates key to sustaining industry|newspaper=Engineering News|url=http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/developing-graduates-key-to-sustaining-industry-2013-11-22|access-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref>

==Services==
[[File:Fluor construction site Shuaiba, Kuwait.jpg|thumb|right|A Fluor construction site in Shuaiba, Kuwait]]Fluor is a holding company that provides services through its subsidiaries.<ref name="swot">{{citation|title=Fluor Corporation – SWOT Analysis|publisher=Marketline|date=January 1, 2013}}</ref> Its subsidiaries provide engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance and project management services. The company has also developed pollution control products, such as the Econamine lineup of carbon capture products.<ref name="swot"/> Fluor's work includes designing and building power plants, petrochemical factories, mining facilities, roads and bridges, government buildings, and manufacturing facilities. The company also performs nuclear cleanup, and other services.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.fluor.com/business_segments/Pages/default.aspx|publisher=Fluor|title=Business Segments|access-date=January 1, 2014|archive-date=January 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110154347/http://www.fluor.com/business_segments/Pages/default.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Separate teams of experts, procurement staff, project managers and workers are provided for large projects that are supported by a centralized administrative staff. Fluor has trained more than 100,000 craft workers in Indonesia, the Philippines, Korea, Pakistan, Kuwait and other countries, where the needed labor skills weren't available locally.<ref name="fortunearch"/> It may also serve clients through a joint venture with another construction firm when a local infrastructure or niche expertise is needed.<ref name="swot"/>

Fluor acquired shares of Genentech Inc. in 1981,<ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor Buys Shares In Genentech Inc.|newspaper=The New York Times|date=16 January 1981 |page=3|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/16/business/fluor-buys-shares-in-genentech-inc.html|access-date=January 31, 2014}}</ref> and it bought a 10 percent interest in a smelter and refinery facility in Gresik, Indonesia in 1995 for $550 million. In 1994, it invested $650 million with the Beacon Group Energy Investment fund to finance energy projects.<ref name="respect"/> Fluor also has a majority interest in [[NuScale]] LLC., which is developing a new type of 45-megawatt nuclear reactor called a small modular reactor (SMR).<ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor's NuScale lands U.S. govt funding for new small reactors|first=Braden|last=Reddall|date=December 12, 2013|publisher=Reuters|access-date=December 18, 2013|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/fluor-nuscale-funding-idUSL1N0JR2HF20131213}}</ref>

==Notable projects==
[[File:Fluor water cooling tower (buddha tower) from the early 1900s.jpg|thumb|right|A Fluor "Buddha Tower" water cooling tower from the early 1900s]]
Fluor's first projects were in constructing and grading roads, but by the 1920s it was known for building public facilities, industrial complexes<ref name="five">{{citation |publisher=Department of Defense Legacy Resource Management Program |date=March 2010 |first1=David |last1=Moore |first2=Justin |last2=Edgington |first3=Emily |last3=Payne |title=A Guide to Architecture and Engineering Firms of the Cold War Era |access-date=December 18, 2013 |url=http://www.denix.osd.mil/cr/upload/FINAL_Report_A-Guide-to-Architecture-Engineering-Firms_Cold-War-Era_09-434.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017132920/https://www.denix.osd.mil/cr/upload/FINAL_Report_A-Guide-to-Architecture-Engineering-Firms_Cold-War-Era_09-434.pdf |archive-date=October 17, 2012 }}</ref> and serving a growing California oil and gas industry.<ref name="three"/><ref name="one"/> It started building office and meter manufacturing facilities for the [[Southern California Gas Company]] in 1915, as well as a compressor station for the Industrial Fuel Supply Company in 1919.<ref name="Pederson2000">{{cite book|author=Jay P. Pederson|title=International Directory of Company Histories|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OQa7AAAAIAAJ|date=August 5, 2000|publisher=Gale|isbn=9781558623934 }}</ref> Fluor built the first "Buddha Tower" in 1921<ref name="five"/><ref name="Pederson2000"/> in Signal Hill, California, for the Industrial Fuel Supply Company.<ref name="fluorbook"/> The Buddha Tower was a design of water-cooling tower named after the Buddha temples they resemble.<ref name="five"/><ref name="Pederson2000"/> The following year Fluor was awarded a contract by [[Richfield Oil]] to build a 10,000-gallon-per-day gasoline plant.<ref name="fortunearch"/>

Against his father's wishes, Peter Fluor expanded Fluor's business outside of California in the 1930s.<ref name="Pederson2000"/> It built refineries in Texas,<ref name="fortunearch"/> as well as oil pipelines and compressor stations from Panhandle, Texas, to Indianapolis, Indiana, for the Panhandle Eastern Pipeline Company.<ref name="Pederson2000"/><ref name="fluorbook"/> Fluor constructed the [[Escondida]] in Chile, which is the second-largest copper mine in the world.<ref name="thirteen"/> In 1942, Fluor constructed cooling towers and other facilities in Hanford, Washington, for the [[Manhattan Project]].<ref name="five"/><ref name="four"/> It built an expansion of the [[Dhahran Airfield]] in Saudi Arabia for the United States Army in the 1950s<ref name="five"/> and accepted its first international project for [[ARAMCO]] in the Middle East.<ref name="fortunearch">{{cite news|title=Bob Fluor, Global Superbuilder|newspaper=Fortune Magazine|first=Walter|last=McQuade|date=February 26, 1979}}</ref>

In the 1960s and 1970s, Fluor built the first all-hydrogen refinery in Kuwait and the first exclusively offshore power plant for the [[Atlantic Richfield Company]].<ref name="five"/> It also constructed pumps and ports<ref name="fortunearch"/> for the [[Trans-Alaska Pipeline System]],<ref name="five"/> which traversed 800 miles from northern Alaska to [[Valdez, Alaska]],<ref name="fluorbook"/> and the world's largest offshore facility for natural gas on the island of [[Java]] in [[Indonesia]].<ref name="onthology"/> In 1976, it was awarded a $5 billion project for ARAMCO in Saudi Arabia, to design facilities that capture [[sour gas]], which is expelled from oil wells as waste, in order to refine it into fuel. That same year a partially completed copper and cobalt mine in Africa was cancelled due to a war in the neighboring region of Angola and declining copper prices.<ref name="fortunearch"/> In 1979, Fluor had 13 projects for building United States power plants and had served more than half of the world's government-owned oil companies.<ref name="fortunearch"/>

[[File:Radiation cleanup.jpg|thumb|left|Fluor workers at a radiation cleanup site in Ohio]]
Fluor has been working on the cleanup and shutdown of atomic energy plants in Ohio and Washington since the 1990s.<ref name="one"/> In 1992, Fluor won a contract with the United States Energy Department to clean up nuclear waste.<ref name="bwbw"/> By 1996 Hanford was the most contaminated nuclear site in the US and the [[US Department of Energy]] was conducting a $50 billion to $60 billion cleanup of the site. Fluor Hanford Inc. replaced Westinghouse Hanford Co. on the project.<ref>{{cite news|title=New contractor takes over Hanford|first=Aviva|last=Brandt|publisher=Associated Press|date=October 2, 1996|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2026&dat=19961002&id=ac0qAAAAIBAJ&sjid=iNAFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6522,118758|access-date=January 1, 2014}}</ref><ref name="dhiun">{{cite news |title=Hanford contractor fined for safety violations|publisher=Associated Press|date=December 17, 2005|access-date=January 1, 2013|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1314&dat=20051217&id=jGZWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=EPMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5694,693822}}</ref> After a chemical explosion in 1997, 11 workers filed a lawsuit alleging they were denied appropriate medical attention and protective gear. Fluor and the workers disagreed on whether the explosion resulted in any injuries.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fluor Daniel says it's surprised by lawsuit|date=April 4, 2000|access-date=January 1, 2014|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=860&dat=20000404&id=lYIeAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_coEAAAAIBAJ&pg=5142,417079}}</ref> In 2005 the US Department of Energy fined Fluor for safety violations<ref name="dhiun"/> and that same year a jury awarded $4.7 million in damages to eleven pipe fitters who claimed they were fired after complaining that a valve rated for 1,975 pounds per square inch (psi) was being used where a valve rated at 2,235 psi was needed.<ref>{{cite news|title=Washington jury awards $4.7 million to Hanford whistleblowers|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2026&dat=20050901&id=ylUzAAAAIBAJ&sjid=H_AFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5651,116554|date=September 1, 2005|access-date=January 3, 2013|publisher=Associated Press|first=Shanon|last=Dininny}}</ref>

Fluor built the [[Aladdin Hotel & Casino]] in [[Las Vegas]] in 2001 for $1.4 billion.<ref name="one"/> In 2004, the company was awarded a $1.1 billion project with AMEC to help rebuild the water, power and civic infrastructure of Iraq after the [[Iraq War]].<ref name="four"/><ref name="bwbw"/> Fluor has also built a rail line in Europe and missile sites in California and possibly Arizona.<ref>Fluor >> Corporate Information >> History. See picture caption in 1960s section: "1961 Fluor builds missile silos for U.S. Army" https://www.fluor.com/about-fluor/corporate-information/history {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170713163101/https://www.fluor.com/about_fluor/corporate_information/Pages/History.aspx |date=2017-07-13 }}</ref>
The company provided disaster recovery services in Louisiana after [[Hurricane Katrina]].<ref name="two"/> In 2010 Fluor provided workers to clean up oil tar on beaches in Florida and Alabama after the [[Deepwater Horizon oil spill|''Deepwater Horizon'' oil spill]].<ref>{{cite news|title=From Fluor to Costner, BP Cleanup Means Some Clean Up|first=Mark|last=Drajem|author2=Katarzyna Klimasinska|date=June 18, 2010|access-date=January 5, 2014|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-18/from-fluor-to-awning-maker-to-costner-bp-oil-cleanup-means-some-clean-up.html|publisher=Bloomberg}}</ref> In December 2012, Fluor was awarded a $3.14 billion contract to build a [[new Tappan Zee Bridge]] over the Hudson River.<ref name="Inc. AB. 2012">{{cite news| title=Tappan Zee Bridge Panel Said to Back $3.14 Billion Fluor Bid | newspaper=Bloomberg.com | date=December 5, 2012 | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2012-12-05/tappan-zee-bridge-panel-backs-3-14-billion-bid-cuomo-says-1- | access-date=September 24, 2015|first1=Freeman|last1=Klopott|first2=Mark|last2=Schoifet}}</ref>

==See also==
{{portal|Companies}}
* [[NuScale Power]]
* [[Genentech]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [http://www.fluor.com/pages/default.aspx Official '''Fluor Corporation''' website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221005346/http://www.fluor.com/pages/default.aspx |date=2014-02-21 }}
{{Finance links
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| sec_cik = FLR
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{{S&P 400 companies}}
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[[Category:Construction and civil engineering companies of the United States]]
[[Category:Oilfield services companies]]
[[Category:Petroleum engineering]]
[[Category:Petroleum in Texas]]
[[Category:Companies based in Irving, Texas]]
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[[Category:Non-renewable resource companies established in 1912]]<!--Fluor Corp-->
[[Category:1912 establishments in California]]<!--Fluor Corp-->
[[Category:Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange]]
[[Category:Companies in the S&P 400]]
[[Category:Multinational companies headquartered in the United States]]
[[Category:Construction and civil engineering companies established in 1912]]