Fluor's scope was engineering, procurement, and field construction of four new facilities / units: a FLEXICRACKER, Exxon's patented FLEXICOKER, new light-ends and liquid propane gas recovery, and HF alkylation and butane isomerization.
To support Lagoven's desire to keep at home as much of its huge investment as possible, Fluor established a project office in Caracas, subcontracting 140,000 hours of engineering and purchasing the majority of project materials and equipment in Venezuela. Of the peak construction workforce, more than 7,500, or 96 percent were Venezuelan. In addition, Fluor established a craft training center at the site where the skills of more than 1,800 Venezuelans were upgraded. They were trained as welders, iron workers, pipe fitters, millwrights, boilermakers, and electricians.
The 52,000 barrel-per-day FLEXICOKER was the third and by far the largest unit of its type of construction at the time. Its massive size, complexity, and vibration and temperature considerations made it a challenge to design and build.
Fluor's first project at the Amuay refinery had been in 1968; the upgrade was in 1982. Other refinery projects continued into the 1990s.