DOW JONES NEWSWIRES Fluor Corp. (FLR) said Australia's Santos Ltd. (STO.AU, SSLTY) awarded it a $3.5 billion engineering, procurement and construction contract on a liquefied natural gas project in the country's Queensland state. The deal is a promising sign for the engineering and construction company, which was mostly resilient during the downturn but had suffered in recent quarters with sagging results at its oil-and-gas business. In November, it reported it swung to a third-quarter loss on charges, though revenue rose unexpectedly. Fluor said Tuesday it booked $3.5 billion in the fourth quarter for the contract related to Santos' Gladstone project, which will extract and liquefy gas from coal deposits for export to Asia and other global markets. Fluor shares closed Friday at $71.19 and were inactive in recent premarket trading. Through the latest close, the stock was up 45% over the past year. -By Matt Jarzemsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240; matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com
