Fluor 2014 Annual Report Download - page 38

stronger environmental standards. As heavier feedstocks become more viable to refine, we employ our
strength in technologies to pursue opportunities that facilitate the removal of sulfur from this heavier
crude.
In the chemicals and petrochemicals market, we have been very active for several years with major
projects involving the expansion of ethylene based derivatives. The most active markets have been in the
Middle East and Asia, where there is significant demand for chemical products, and more recently in the
United States driven by the availability of low cost gas.
With our partner Grupo ICA, we maintain a joint venture known as ICA Fluor, through which we
continue to participate in the Mexican and Central American oil, gas, power, chemical and other markets.
Industrial & Infrastructure
The Industrial & Infrastructure segment provides design, engineering, procurement, construction,
operations and maintenance and project management services to the mining and metals, transportation,
life sciences, manufacturing, commercial and institutional, telecommunications, microelectronics and
water sectors. These projects often require application of our clients’ state-of-the-art processes and
intellectual knowledge. We focus on providing our clients with capital efficiencies through solutions that
seek to reduce costs and compress delivery schedules. By doing so, we are able to complete our clients’
projects on a quick and more cost efficient basis. In addition, we also work closely with clients in these and
other sectors, including clients in the oil and gas and chemicals industries, by providing operations and
maintenance services to help them achieve operational improvements at new or existing facilities thereby
allowing our clients to remain focused on their core business functions.
In transportation, we focus on infrastructure projects, such as roads, highways, bridges and rail, with
particular interest in large, complex projects. We provide a broad range of services including consulting,
design, planning, financial structuring, engineering and construction, domestically and internationally. Our
projects may involve the use of public/private partnerships, which allow us to develop and finance deals in
concert with public entities for projects such as toll roads and rail lines that would not have otherwise been
undertaken, had only public funding been available. And, from time to time, we may also be an equity
investor in such public/private partnership projects. As the global population continues to grow (especially
in emerging countries) and existing infrastructure continues to age (especially in developed countries), we
have won and will continue to pursue transportation projects on a global basis.
In mining and metals, we provide a full range of services to the iron ore, copper, diamond, gold,
nickel, alumina, aluminum and other commodity-based industries. These services include feasibility studies
through detailed engineering, design, procurement, construction, and commissioning and start-up support.
We see many of these opportunities being developed in extreme altitudes, topographies and climates, such
as the Andes Mountains, Mongolia, Western Australia and Africa. We are one of the few companies with
the size and experience to execute large scale mining and metals projects in these difficult locations.
In life sciences, we provide design, engineering, procurement, construction and construction
management services to the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. We also specialize in providing
validation and commissioning services where we not only bring new facilities into production but we also
keep existing facilities operating. The ability to complete projects on a large scale basis, especially in a
business where time to market is critical, allows us to better serve our clients and is a key competitive
advantage.
In manufacturing, we provide design, engineering, procurement, consulting, construction and
construction management services to a wide variety of industries.
Activities in the operations and maintenance markets include providing facility start-up and
management, plant and facility maintenance, operations support and asset management services to the oil
and gas, chemicals, life sciences, mining and metals, consumer products and manufacturing industries. We
are a leading supplier of operations and maintenance services, providing our service offerings both
domestically and internationally. This business often benefits from large projects that originate in another
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