Praxair Ramps up Oil Well Services Business in Canada

Praxair Canada Inc., a subsidiary of Praxair, Inc. (NYSE: PX), is upgrading existing air separation facilities in Fort Saskatchewan and Prentiss, Alberta. The company also will add new carbon dioxide and liquid nitrogen distribution and storage facilities in Grande Prairie, Alberta, and Dawson Creek, British Columbia, as well as mobile storage and transportation equipment. The upgrades will add an additional 1,000 tons per day of liquid nitrogen to support the growing requirements of customers in the oil and gas market of Western Canada. This new capacity will come on line in three phases beginning mid-2012 through 2014.

"We are ramping up production to meet current and future customer requirements,” said Rob Hossack, vice president, Merchant and On-Site Gases. "At the same time, our transportation and logistics teams have developed offerings designed specifically for the Western Canada energy marketplace. Our customers want to focus on their core business; they look to us to provide nitrogen, install mobile storage and handle the logistics of delivering product.”

The energy sector in Canada is helping to fuel growth for Praxair Canada, which has been able to build upon its existing infrastructure and add capacity to meet demand that is expected to continue to grow for the foreseeable future. Praxair Canada operates more than 50 kilometers of hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen pipelines in the Edmonton - Fort Saskatchewan corridor, and is currently working on several expansion opportunities with its existing customer base around this enclave.

Praxair is the largest industrial gases company in North and South America, and one of the largest worldwide, with 2010 sales of $10 billion. Praxair products, services and technologies are making the planet more productive by bringing efficiency and environmental benefits to a wide variety of industries, including aerospace, chemicals, food and beverage, electronics, energy, healthcare, manufacturing, metals and others. The company produces, sells and distributes atmospheric, process and specialty gases, and high-performance surface coatings. More information on Praxair is available on the Internet at www.praxair.com.