Calif. Energy Firm To Supply Lower-Sulfur Fuel In Germany

Compiled ByJonathan Katz Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Fluor Corp. will be one of Europe's first producers of ultra-clean motor fuels in a contract with Ruhr Oel GmbH, Germany's largest oil refiner, Fluor recently announced. The "Auto Oil Program II" was initiated after the German government declared that the country's motor vehicle sulfur emissions exceeded the required European Union 2005 standards. The project entails an overhaul and upgrading of two diesel desulfurisers and includes the construction of a new gasoline desulfuriser and the upgrade and modification of the refineries' facilities to accommodate the change. The project is now in the engineering and procurement phase with facility operations expected to begin by third quarter 2001. "We are pleased to be awarded the next phase of this major environmental project by Ruhr Oel," says Arnold Steenbakker, senior vice president of Fluor's Oil, Gas & Chemicals division in Europe. Fluor Corp., which had 1999 revenues of $12.4 billion, provides services worldwide in the fields of engineering, procurement, construction, maintenance, operations, project management, consulting, and coal production.