LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., Nov. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Strengthening its position in the oilfield services industry with a new liquid nitrogen production facility in Mooreland, Oklahoma, Air Products (NYSE: APD) today held an Open House for customers and other guests to celebrate the plant's onstream status. The new facility will produce approximately 250 tons per day of liquid nitrogen and increases Air Products' existing leadership position in supplying the region's oilfield services industry.  The new plant will focus service on Woodward, Oklahoma and surrounding oil and gas producing areas in the state, and in Kansas and Texas.

"The decision to build this new merchant facility here demonstrates our commitment to the oilfield services industry in this region, and the response from customers has been strong.  In addition to this plant, we have proactively taken actions to optimize the supply chain for customers and reduce their ancillary costs. The new plant and improved customer service and logistics will assist in meeting increased liquid nitrogen demand for the region's growing oilfield services industry," said Nelson Squires, vice president and general manager, North America Merchant Gases at Air Products.

Squires also noted that beyond the new plant, Air Products has established several additional support and product offerings for the regional oilfield services industry including:

• designing the plant 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
• retro-fitting 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 Mooreland facility is also an FDA certified plant and will supply nitrogen to other local industries such as food and metals processing.

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/industries/energy/oilgas-production/oilfield-services.aspx.

Air Products has additional Oklahoma operations in Pryor which produces liquid products for other markets including food, chemicals, metal processing, electronics and medical applications.

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, 2011.

SOURCE Air Products