USA: Fluor going to provide services to Marathon Oil

Fluor will provide project management, engineering and procurement services for Marathon Oil's projected $3.2-billion project to expand crude oil refining capacity of the company's Garyville, La., refinery by 180,000 barrels per day. In addition to the installation of a new crude and vacuum distillation unit, expansion plans call for the construction of infrastructure and other process units including a 44,000-barrel-per-day delayed coker, a 70,000 bpd heavy gas oil hydrocracker, a 65,000 bpd reformer and a 47,000 bpd kerosene hydrotreater.

The project will increase Garyville's refining capacity from 245,000 bpd to 425,000 bpd and Marathon's total refining capacity from 974,000 bpd to 1,154,000 bpd.

During the expansion, Fluor will manage local construction contractors that will require an average of 2,000 workers with up to 4,000 workers at peak periods to complete the construction.

Construction is expected to begin in mid-2007 with startup planned for the fourth quarter 2009.

•Houston-based Lone Star Fasteners has completed the $6 million acquisition of LWD Precision Engineering Co. Ltd., a manufacturer of engineered components for the oil and gas industry. Based in Leeds, England, LWD makes components for valves, actuators and other related equipment.

This is the second acquisition by Lone Star in less than a year, following the June 2006 acquisition of Leeds-based Grange Gaskets, a provider of standard and specialty gaskets, and related parts. Tony Sitek, managing director of Lone Star's Grange subsidiary, will take over management responsibility for the combined businesses of Grange and LWD.

Lone Star is a portfolio company of Dallas private equity firm Trinity Hunt Partners.

The combined companies have more than 400 employees worldwide and about $70 million in revenue, the company said.

Chron

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