Fluor's Energy & Chemicals Unit Wins FEED Contract From BPCL

Fluor Corporation’s FLR Energy & Chemicals business has been selected as a project management consultant from Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (“BPCL”) to provide front-end engineering and design (“FEED”) services to the latter’s Polyols Petrochemicals Project.

Per the contract, Fluor will offer FEED services for both the inside and outside battery limits, as well as implement detailed design at the integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex, located in Kochi, Kerala, India. The scope of its work also includes engineering, procurement and construction management services for the facility’s utilities and offsites. Notably, the undisclosed contract value will be booked in fourth-quarter 2019 backlog.

Need for the Project

Polyols are widely used in the automobile, textile, furniture and construction industries. Importantly, the project will help BPCL to meet the growing domestic demand for polyols and reduce India’s dependence on petrochemicals imports.

As part of this project, six process units will be built as propylene oxide, propylene glycol, polyols, ethylene oxide/monoethylene glycol, ethylene recovery and a cumene, and integrated into the existing refinery.

Post completion of BPCL’s prestigious polyols project, the Kochi complex will produce propylene glycol, ethylene glycol and various grades of polyols based on 250 kilotons per annum of polymer grade propylene.

New Awards to Boost Fluor’s Business

Fluor recently received a four-year framework contract from Neptune Energy for the latter’s brownfield and decommissioning project. Per the agreement, Stork’s joint venture company — Stork Worley Integrated Solutions — will provide engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning, and decommissioning services to Neptune Energy's Dutch assets in the North Sea for a brownfield modification.

Again, its Fluor AMEC II, LLC unit has clinched a contract from the Air Force Installation Contracting Agency to repair the Ascension Island Auxiliary Airfield runway.

Meanwhile, shares of the company have started reviving in the recent past. It had been recording dismal results over the last few quarters, mainly due to unimpressive segmental performance. The stock has gained 2.9% in the past month against the Zacks Engineering - R And D Services industry’s 0.1% decline. Continuous contract wins, strong end-market prospects, solid backlog level and a good business portfolio mix are expected to drive growth in the future.

Energy & Chemicals Business to Drive Growth

Fluor, being an industry leader in nuclear remediation at government facilities throughout the United States, is expected to benefit from rising demand for energy across the globe. Relative stability in commodity prices is expected to boost investments in downstream and petrochemicals.

The Energy & Chemicals Business segment — which contributed nearly 41% to the company’s total revenues — had reported a profit of $84.9 million in third-quarter 2019, up 69.1% from a year ago. Quarter-end backlog also grew from the year-ago period.

Management is optimistic about the continuation of this trend of winning contracts in the upcoming days, which will likely drive its top line.

Zacks Rank

Fluor — which shares space with Gates Industrial Corporation plc GTES, Quanta Services, Inc. PWR and AECOM ACM in the industry — currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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