MEGlobal Monoethylene Glycol Manufacturing Project

Client: MEGlobal

Location: Freeport, TX, U.S

Business Segment: Energy Solutions

Industry: Chemicals

Map showing the location of MEGlobal Monoethylene Glycol Manufacturing Project

Executive Summary

MEGlobal selected Fluor to provide construction of a new, world-scale monoethylene glycol (MEG) manufacturing facility at its Oyster Creek site near Freeport, Texas. The new Oyster Creek MEG facility is owned by MEGlobal and represents MEGlobal’s first unit in the United States.

Client's Challenge

MEGlobal is a wholly-owned subsidiary of EQUATE Petrochemical Company. EQUATE is an international joint venture comprising Petrochemical Industries Company (PIC), The Dow Chemical Company (Dow), Boubyan Petrochemical Company (BPC) and Qurain Petrochemical Industries Company (QPIC).

The product MEG is used in a number of market applications, including polyester fibers, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and packaging, antifreeze and coolants, paints, resins, deicing fluids, heat transfer fluids and construction materials.

Fluor's Solution

Our mechanical construction scope for the MEG process unit included the installation of equipment, steel and piping. We recruited a large number of direct-hire craft and construction management staff, with nearly 1,100 craft professionals onsite at peak construction.

For this project, MEGlobal leveraged our recent execution success with the Dow Gulfstream Program at the Oyster Creek site and our established construction presence on the Gulf Coast. As part of that program, the Dow Ethylene Production Facility was honored in Engineering News-Record (ENR)’s 5th annual Global Best Projects competition in 2017 with an Award of Merit in the Power/Industrial category.

Conclusion

Fluor provided mechanical construction for MEGlobal’s MEG manufacturing facility in Oyster Creek, Texas. This was our fifth major construction project in the Freeport area over the past six years.

The project achieved mechanical completion in September 2019 and began operations the following month.

In July 2020, the project was named Energy/Industrial Project of the Year for the Texas and Louisiana region in ENR's 2020 Regional Best Project Awards. It also received an Award of Merit in the Power/Industrial category in ENR's 2020 Global Best Project Awards.

In January 2021, the facility was named a Best of the Best Project in the Energy/Industrial category by ENR.