Engineering

Fluor

Last edited by lenazun on December 17, 2009 - 1:58pm
Company Snapshot: 

Fluor is an Irving, Texas-based (formerly Irvine, California) company that specializes in construction for a vast array of industries. Fluor boasts a workforce of around 50,000 and billions of dollars in sales, government contracts and backlogged contracts. Fluor operates all around the world, working on energy resource extraction projects in Alaska’s North Slope, in the Tar Sands of Canada, and on the Pacific coast of Russia. Fluor develops oil infrastructure for giants like ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco. The contractor helped Saudi Arabia develop it’s oil infrastructure in the mid-20th century by providing engineering services. Fluor build the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System in 1977, and is currently working on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge renovation, which should be complete in 2013. Fluor had been contracted for $2 billion to build a new refinery in Kuwait by the National Petroleum Company. The project was cancelled, however, due to economic concerns.

Number of employees worldwide: 
42,000
Chief executive officer: 
Alan Boeckmann
Website: 
Fluor EPCM Services
Global Fortune 500 rank: 
412
Tel: 
1.469.398.7000
Fax: 
1.469.398.7255
Net Income: 
US$720,000,000.00 FY2008
Total revenue: 
US$22,300,000,000.00 FY2008
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Corporate accountability
Accountability overview: 

Fluor was required to pay the Department of Defense (DoD) $8.5 million in 2001 for charges that it had overbilled the government for jobs that ended up profiting its own clients.

In November of 2004, Fluor forked over $12.5 million for overbilling the DoD and Department of Energy (DoE), this time for tens of millions of dollars, “including executive bonuses, land investments, construction and building improvements, luxury condos, fine art, a Mercedes driven by the company's president, and an antique Chippendale chair.”

Andre Verloy, “Windfalls of War – The Center for Public Integrity.” The Center for Public Integrity, 2008. Accessed Nov 4, 2008.

Sarah Posner, “Security for Sale.” The American Prospect, Dec 18, 2005. Accessed Nov 4, 2009.

Labor: 

Fluor came under fire in the 1980s from black company employees in apartheid South Africa, who claimed that Fluor “exploited and brutalized them,” dressing up as Ku Klux Klan members in white hoods and robes and attacking employees that were unarmed. In addition to these racist assaults, Fluor is criticized generally for working with the apartheid government of South Africa to help them develop their fossil fuel infrastructure, including the world’s largest coal-to-oil processing plant. During Phillip J. Carroll Jr.’s tenure at Shell, that company was accused by Nigerian activists of running a private police force and using it to attack protesters who wanted Shell off of Ogoni tribal lands. The leader of that insurrection, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and other participants were arrested and hanged by Nigerian police.

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_227.shtml

Environment and product safety: 

Fluor is poised to cash in on the current privatization trend in the British nuclear energy sector. Fluor, along with a handful of other U.S.-based companies (including LOGCAP IV planning contractor Serco), are bidding to buy up Great Britain’s nuclear assets, including reprocessing facilities, power generation units, and sites that are currently being decommissioned. URS Washington Group, Bechtel, French industry giant Areva, and Toshiba (owner of Westinghouse) are all involved in the bidding process along with Fluor and Serco. Unions within the nuclear industry are up in arms, concerned that thousands of jobs will be lost as the industry is privatized and new management moves in. Environmental advocacy groups such as Greenpeace have raised concerns about fiscal transparency, oversight and environmental regulations being neglected in lieu of profit margins. Public safety, as well as the public’s tax monies, is also on the line.

Terry Macalister, “Fears for safety and jobs as bidders jostle for Sellafield contract.” The Guardian, Jul 11, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/11/nuclear. Accessed Nov 9, 2009. This particular contract ended up in the hands of Washington International, Amec and Areva. The contract is valued at 1.3 billion pounds per year for reprocessing, clean-up and waste storage. Profits are expected to run around 50 million pounds annually. Sellafield is Great Britain’s largest nuclear complex, and considered one of the world’s most complex nuclear organizations. [Angela Blakrishnan, “International consortium wins Sellafield clean-up contract.” The Guardian, Jul 11, 2008. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/11/nuclear.nuclearpower. Accessed Nov 9, 2009.]

Human rights: 

Fluor is a giant in the disaster relief industry as well, reports James Varney of the Times-Picayune. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, Fluor held a contract with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that made it the nation’s “prime contractor in relief work following natural catastrophes.” When Katrina made landfall, the contract was under renegotiation. FEMA then made the decision to split up the original contract and award four $500 million contracts to a wholly owned subsidiary of Fluor for temporary housing. PRI/DJI, Fluor’s subsidiary, has come under considerable scrutiny from both its competitors for these contracts, who suspect that the small business’s ties to FEMA favorite Fluor landed them the contracts, as well as the GAO. These allegations led to the contracts being re-bid, and re-awarded to PRI/DJI. Formal protests from the GAO would normally lead to an automatic suspension of the task under contract, but due to the catastrophic nature of this particular natural disaster, the work continued.

Competitors’ complaints came mostly from FEMA’s turning back on their original intentions with rebuilding the Gulf Coast. Contracts were promised to small businesses, and specifically those within Louisiana, in order to facilitate economic recovery of the region as well. PRI/DJI is based in California, and in addition to being a subsidiary of a company that earns many billions of dollars of government contracts a year, is PRI’s “mentor” under a federal program for disadvantaged businesses. Varney reports Fluor’s campaign contributions topping $930,000 from 2000 to 2006, most of which ended up in the coffers of Republican candidates and committees. Fluor’s stock had increased 65% between Katrina’s landfall in August 2005 and May 2006, when the article was printed.

James Varney, “Katrina: Trailer deal goes to Fluor ally.” Times-Picayune, May 9, 2006. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?=id.13564. Accessed Nov 9, 2009.

Political influence (national and international): 

Fluor posted a revenue of $22.3 billion in 2008, an operating income of $1.1 billion, and a net income of $720 million. In 2008, Fluor reported to the Senate Office of Public Records spending $1,335,181 on lobbying for itself and its subsidiaries. The Center for Public Integrity reports Fluor lobbying Congress, the White House, and government agencies with $714,027 in fiscal year 2001 for issues such as “defense authorization, Terrorism insurance and appropriations for Energy and Water, Foreign Operations and Defense.” Nearly half of that, at $374,027, was allotted to in-house lobbyists. Fluor Corporation is represented by one such lobbyist, Charles Black, a Republican strategist with BKSH & Associates, part of Burson-Marsteller. Black once represented the Iraqi National Congress, as well as Ahmed Chalibi.

The former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Fluor is Philip J. Carroll Jr (1998-2002). Carroll receives retirement benefits and bonuses annual from Fluor to the tune of $1 million, and owns $34 million in Fluor shares. Thus, Carroll retains considerable influence and interest in the company. Carroll, 65, worked with Shell for 37 years and has advised Iraq oil ministry head Thamir Ghadhban. Effectively, Carroll oversees the restructuring the oil industry in Iraq.

In order to retain its competitiveness in the contracting field, Fluor hired former staff director of the House Energy and Commerce Committee David Marventano in 2003. Marventano has been on Rep. Billy Tauzin (R-LA) and Rep. Bill Paxon’s (R-NY) staffs. Kenneth J. Oscar used to work for the Army as assistant secretary before becoming Vice president of strategy and government services with Fluor in 2002. Oscar used to be an administrator for the Office of Federal Procurement Policy and the deputy assistant secretary of Procurement for the Army. Other Fluor big-shots include Bobby R. Inman, former admiral, director of NSA, and deputy director of the CIA who has been a board member of Fluor since 1985.

From Fluor’s Annual Report, found on “Fluor Corp.” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluor_Corp. Accessed Nov 4, 2009. Original link: http://library.corporate-ir.net/library/12/124/124955/items/328672/CA67EFE5-69F5-4DC4-A311-431CD8940EED_AR.pdf. Center for Responsive Politics, “Lobbying Spending Database – Fluor Corp.” Open Secrets, 2009. http://www.opensecrets.org/lobby/clientsum.php?year=2008& lname=Fluor+Corp. Accessed Nov 4, 2009. Verloy. Ibid. Sarah Posner, “Security for Sale.” The American Prospect, Dec 18, 2005. http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?articleId=10750. Accessed Nov 4, 2009. Thamir Ghadhban became Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Oil in 2003 and served until 2005, when he became a member of Parliament. He is currently the Chairman of the prime minister’s advisors committee and drafting Iraq’s oil law, which is still awaiting approval. [Wikipedia, “Thamir Ghdhban.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thamir_Ghadhban. Accessed Nov 11, 2009.] Verloy. Ibid.

Sources
Watchdogs and related campaigns: 
Fedspending.org data on Fluor
Specialized Information
Links to federal contract rankings in U.S.: 
# 8 of Top Prime Federal Contractors in 2007 (Washington Technology)