UPDATE 1-Reuters Summit-Fluor sees robust energy spending

(For other news from the Reuters Global Energy Summit, click here) (Adds details on energy spending, background)

NEW YORK, June 2 (Reuters) - Spending on new energy projects will stay robust through 2009 as companies plow their growing cash piles back into their businesses, a senior executive at engineering and construction group Fluor Corp (FLR.N) said on Monday.

"I would characterize this as a supercycle. I don't anticipate the peak. We really don't see any waning in the capital spend over the next year or so, we think it will continue to be robust as these companies play catch-up on the refining side," David Seaton, president of Fluor's energy and chemicals group, told the Reuters Global Energy Summit in a conference call.

Fluor's backlog of work for its oil and gas business swelled to $20.4 billion at the end of the first quarter, up 46 percent from the year-earlier level.

Seaton also said he was surprised that diesel fuel had topped gasoline prices, and he expected diesel to remain expensive.

Refiners in the U.S. were mostly focusing on adding units to their refineries to process the heavier crude oil grades coming from Canada's oil sands, he said.

"There's been no new capacity for diesel ... I see the diesel market continuing to be pretty tight," he said.

Retail diesel fuel prices have reached $4.79 a gallon on average in the United States, about 80 cents above gasoline's price.

Fluor also has businesses that include engineering for offshore wind farms, power plant construction and government services. That government services arm won part of a contract a year ago from the U.S. Defense Department to provide services for the military in war zones such as Iraq and Afghanistan.