Oil patch bits: Fluor joint venture completes work on Sasol project

Petroleum News

Fluor Corp. announced March 19 that its joint venture with TechnipFMC has successfully completed its engineering, procurement and construction management services scope of work on Sasol’s world-scale petrochemical complex in Westlake, Louisiana. The joint venture will continue to provide assistance to the Sasol team with remaining activities by working with Sasol in parallel on transition plans for each unit and system. The joint venture team will also assist in performance testing for the complex.

A 1.5 million-ton-per-year ethane cracker is at the heart of the complex, which also includes six downstream chemical units and associated utilities, infrastructure and off-sites. All units have been transitioned to Sasol except for the low-density polyethylene unit, which will be handed over by the end of March 2019.

“This milestone is the culmination of nearly seven years of hard work by Fluor’s project team and we are proud to have successfully delivered our scope,” said Mark Fields, president of Fluor’s energy and chemicals business in the Americas. “We brought our extensive U.S. Gulf Coast construction and megaproject expertise using our integrated solutions approach, and we are proud of the lasting positive impact this project will have on Southwest Louisiana.”

More than 6,000 staff and craft were on site at peak to build the complex. The Fluor joint venture integrated a team of 30 main construction contractors and worked in collaboration with Sasol to strengthen the local economy, with more than $4 billion committed to Louisiana businesses, and contributing more than $185,000 to local schools and charitable organizations throughout the project.

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