Air Products' Planned West Texas Facility Strengthens Oilfield Services Position

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Oct 08, 2013, 10:00 ET

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Oct. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Air Products (NYSE: APD) announced today plans to build, own and operate a new liquid nitrogen production facility in West Texas to serve the oil and gas industry in the Permian Basin. The new facility, to have an approximate 250 ton per day capacity, will strengthen Air Products' existing leadership position in supplying the region's oilfield services market. The Midland-Odessa located plant is to be onstream in 2015.

Beyond the core focus on the Permian Basin area, the new facility will expand Air Products' existing nitrogen production and distribution network in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Kansas. This translates into increased customer supply reliability through Air Products' extensive network of production plants, truck fleet, portable storage, and product staging areas to meet the dynamic needs of the oilfield services market.

"The decision to build this facility will expand our nitrogen supply position for the fast-growing oilfield services market. The plant will assist in meeting increased liquid nitrogen demand for coiled tubing, fracturing and other oilfield applications, as well as enhance our responsiveness level to customers for field deliveries and services," said Nelson Squires, vice president and general manager - North America Merchant Gases at Air Products. "The location of this new merchant facility demonstrates our commitment to the oilfield services industry in the Permian Basin and the Mid-Continent region."

Squires noted that Air Products has established several additional support and product offerings for the oilfield services industry including:

designing plants for continuous operations and 24/7 customer product pick-up;
creating a team of oilfield customer service representatives who work in tandem with a team of logistics specialists for the region to provide oilfield services customers 24/7 coverage;
establishing permanent product staging areas close to field locations, and an increasing fleet of mobile storage vessels to locate product directly in the field and close to the wellhead;
increasing a truck fleet designed for off-road conditions with sleeper cabs for driver layovers; and
retrofitting product trailers with a state-of-the-art electronic pressure limiting system to reduce the risk of overpressure conditions while delivering to low pressure oilfield services vessels.

The new Midland-Odessa facility will be an FDA certified plant and supply nitrogen to other local industries such as food and metals processing. Air Products also has established Texas operations in Midlothian and Houston, which produce liquid products for other markets including food, chemicals, metal processing, electronics and medical applications.

In late 2012, Air Products dedicated a similar liquid nitrogen production facility in Mooreland, Oklahoma. The Mooreland facility primarily serves the Woodward, Oklahoma and surrounding oil and gas producing areas in the state, Kansas, and Texas.

Air Products has supplied nitrogen and oxygen for upstream oil and gas production and processing for more than 40 years utilizing a variety of supply modes along with the most comprehensive package of value-added technologies, services and equipment available. For more information on Air Products' work in the oilfield services industry go to: www.airproducts.com/oilfields.

About Air Products
Air Products (NYSE:APD) provides atmospheric, process and specialty gases; performance materials; equipment; and technology. For over 70 years, the company has enabled customers to become more productive, energy efficient and sustainable. More than 20,000 employees in over 50 countries supply innovative solutions to the energy, environment and emerging markets. These include semiconductor materials, refinery hydrogen, coal gasification, natural gas liquefaction, and advanced coatings and adhesives. In fiscal 2012, Air Products had sales approaching $10 billion. For more information, visit www.airproducts.com.

NOTE: This release may contain forward-looking statements within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management's reasonable expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release regarding important risk factors. Actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors not anticipated by management, including risk factors described in the Company's Form 10K for its fiscal year ended September 30, 2012.

SOURCE Air Products