Apache Corp Takes Initiative To Fuel Field Vehicles With US Domestic Natural Gas
Energy producer, Apache Corporation has opened its first compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling station at Elk City, Oklahoma, enabling the company to fuel field vehicles with cleaner-burning gas produced from the company’s wells in the Anadarko Basin of western Oklahoma. The station has the capacity to refuel 100 vehicles per day. Initially, it will be used to fuel more than 40 CNG-powered Apache field vehicles.
“This is a small step; Apache is exploring ways to share the excess capacity at the Elk City refueling facility with other CNG fleet operators and build additional refueling facilities at other company locations,” G. Steven Farris, Apache’s chairman and chief executive officer said. “The biggest obstacle right now is the lack of refueling infrastructure; that’s why we had to build our own station,” Farris said. “The private sector could build adequate infrastructure to fuel many of the nation’s public and private vehicle fleets, but policy makers will need to consider appropriate incentives to accelerate development.”
“Apache’s actions raised awareness of the abundant natural gas resource in the US that can provide an immediate cost-effective means to reduce America’s dependence on imported oil”, added Farris, “until other alternative fuels with lower greenhouse gas emissions become more economical to implement.”