Fluor Secures Contracts for Two High-Profile Proposed U.S. Projects

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Written by Danny Levin, Deputy Editor for IIR News (Sugar Land, Texas)

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Summary

Fluor received contracts for two major proposed projects in the U.S.--a new domestic crude oil refinery, as well as SMR construction at a Dow chemical site, both in Texas. Industrial Info is tracking more than US$45 billion worth of active and proposed projects worldwide featuring Fluor's services, more than US$12 billion of which is attributed to projects in the U.S.

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Fluor Selected for New U.S. Crude Refinery

Fluor Corporation was awarded a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for America First Refining's planned grassroot refinery in Brownsville, Texas.

The Trump administration last month announced its support for the project, which could be processing 165,000 barrels per day (bpd) by the end of the decade. IIR Energy has been tracking the project since its first development in 2024.

Hillary Stevenson, a vice president for Energy Intelligence at IIR Energy, said recently that at best it would take at least three years before a new refinery of that scale could come online. "Alongside time needed to build the refinery, Brownsville lacks a direct crude pipeline connection to shale oil supply. A direct pipeline could take up to three years and more than $1 billion to build," she noted. Jupiter Energy Group's 1 million-bpd Crane-to-Brownsville Pipeline was put on hold at the end of 2019.

Industrial Info has assessed the Brownsville Refinery project as having a low probability of moving forward as planned, with a total investment value of $5 billion. Project kickoff could be as soon as mid-2026 with potential completion by end of 2029. In a press release, Fluor said, "The facility will leverage commercially proven technologies to cleanly and efficiently process American shale oil into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Upon completion, the refinery is expected to process more than 60 million barrels per year of domestic crude."

For more information on the project, see March 12, 2026, article - Proposed Refinery in Texas Could Run U.S. Crude.

SMR Project at Dow Chemical Site

Fluor also has announced it entered into a contract with U.S. small modular reactor (SMR) firm X-Energy to provide Front-End Loading Stage 2 (FEL-2) services for four, 80-megawatt (MW) SMRs at Dow Incorporated's Seadrift site in Texas.

According to Fluor, FEL-2 focuses on project definition, strategic planning, feasibility assessment, cost control and risk mitigation.

"The Seadrift project is expected to become the first grid-scale advanced nuclear reactor deployed to serve an industrial facility in North America," Fluor said in a press release announcing the new contract. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is reviewing the project's construction permit application, and in March 2025 announced an 18-month timeline to complete the review.

Industrial Info is tracking the project with a potential kickoff date in 2029. Subscribers to IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can read a detailed project report.

Other U.S. Projects Featuring Fluor's Services

U.S. projects featuring Fluor's services are scattered across a variety of industries, including Petroleum Refining and Metals & Minerals.

In Petroleum Refining, Fluor is involved in three projects attributed to Marathon Petroleum--providing engineering and procurement services for the ongoing $850 million addition of a distillate hydrotreater unit at its Galveston Bay Refinery in Texas City, Texas.

Meanwhile, two planned projects at Marathon's Garyville refinery in Louisiana include expanding the capacity of two crude-oil trains, all while increasing feedstock flexibility, in addition to expanding a reformer and reformer feed hydrotreater unit, respectively.

The Galveston Bay project could wrap up around the end of 2027, while the Garyville projects are expected to kick off in 2027 and wrap up by the end of that year.

Subscribers can read the related project reports.

For Metals & Minerals, Fluor is providing techno-economic consulting services (confirming technical and commercial feasibility) for RAMACO Resources' rare earth and critical minerals operation under construction in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Construction of the grassroot, small-scale Brook Coal Mine is underway, as well as a pilot processing facility that would produce concentrated mixed rare earth oxides utilizing coal from the mine.

Fluor also has contracts in place for the planned addition/commercial expansion of the mine and commercial-scale processing plant.

Construction of the pilot facility and grassroot, small-scale mine could wrap up later this year, while the other two projects could kick off in 2028 and wrap up in 2030. Subscribers can read the related project reports.

Key Takeaways

• Fluor was awarded U.S. contracts for two major planned projects in Texas: a new U.S. crude oil refinery, and SMR construction at Dow's Seadrift site.
• Those contracts will add to the $12 billion worth of active and proposed projects in the U.S. featuring Fluor's services.
• Other projects are in the Petroleum Refining and Metals & Minerals industries, among others.

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About IIR News Intelligence
IIR News Intelligence is a trusted source of news for the industrial process and energy markets, powered by Industrial Info Resources' Global Market Intelligence (GMI).

About Industrial Info Resources
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 250,000 current and future projects worth $30.2 Trillion (USD).