Fluor began as Fluor Construction Company in 1912 and quickly built its reputation for applying innovative methods and performing precise engineering and construction work within the emerging petroleum industry. During the 1920s, Fluor developed expertise in the oil and gas field in process construction. Incorporated in 1924, the company began executing more complex engineering and construction projects, which continue today to be a cornerstone of Fluor's expertise.
During the 1930s, the company won contracts in Texas, Indiana, Missouri, and Illinois that helped to establish Fluor as a major competitor in the refinery construction field. The 1940's war effort brought the company many opportunities for expansion. Even as its domestic workload grew, the company secured contracts for refineries and natural gas plants in Canada and Venezuela. Fluor's solid reputation as a refinery engineering firm led to the company's first Middle East assignment, in Saudi Arabia.
In the early 1950s, Fluor began working with the U.S. Government executing contracts in the nuclear field. The company also contracted for U.S. Air Force work at Dhahran Air Base, Saudi Arabia, and for refineries in Puerto Rico. More projects followed, and Fluor designed and built plants for the petrochemical industry in Australia, Canada, Scotland, and South Africa. By the end of the decade, Fluor had established offices worldwide, and was a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. The company's reputation helped to win many energy-producing projects.
In the 1960s, Fluor continued its international expansion with the construction of the first refinery in South Korea. The company also diversified into offshore drilling and mining.
By the 1970s, the company's activities focused heavily on the international natural resource industries. Fluor set up subsidiaries and management organizations in Alaska, Europe, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa. It was during the 1970s, that Fluor completed work on the Alaskan pipeline and constructed the world's largest offshore facility. In 1977, the company acquired Daniel International Corporation, a leader in establishing the design-build, single-responsibility concept that allowed the company to deliver projects months ahead of schedule.
In the 1980s, Fluor Engineers, Inc., and Daniel International became a single worldwide operating unit, Fluor Daniel. Although facing a cyclical downturn during the 80s, Fluor restructured the company to meet the challenges of a dramatically changed business environment, preparing the company for growth worldwide.
Fluor expanded its international operations in the 1990s, successfully completing many petrochemical, infrastructure, and environmental projects in Indonesia, Venezuela, Mexico, Thailand, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Poland, and Argentina. Fluor acquired ADP Marshall and expanded its services to the electrical, pharmaceutical, commercial and manufacturing industries.
In 2000, Fluor successfully completed the spin-off of its coal business and several acquisitions to expand its services with the U.S. government and strengthen its operations and maintenance capabilities. The spin off created two new publicly held companies trading on the New York Stock Exchange: a "new" Fluor Corporation (FLR) and Massey Energy Company (MEE), headquartered in Richmond, Virginia.
Fluor's world headquarters was relocated from southern California to the Dallas/Ft. Worth metropolitan area in Texas in April 2006. The new 136,000-square-foot building is located in Las Colinas, a subdivision of Irving, Texas, 10 miles northwest of downtown Dallas.
