Industrial gases company Praxair, Inc. has announced plans to expand its New Mexico facility, including the construction of a new nitrogen facility. The gas provider says that demand for nitrogen is going up and this trend is the main reason behind the planned expansion.
The facility in Kirtland, New Mexico, is expected to increase production capacity over the next few months. The expansion is largely in response to the increasing oil and gas production in the San Juan Basin, encompassing parts of Colorado, northwestern New Mexico and some areas in Arizona and Utah. The energy industry is flourishing in the area as producers develop new resources, pushing up demand for gases, Praxair said.
The company produces and distributes various types of gases, including atmospheric, process and specialty gases. According to Gerald Miller, vice president of the West Region for Praxair's U.S. industrial gases business, ramping up nitrogen production will allow the gas provider to meet growing customer demand for pipeline and liquid nitrogen. He also pointed out that support from local and state government had contributed to the realization of the expansion project.
Earlier this year Praxair started work on a new non-cryogenic vacuum-pressure-swing-adsorption plant in Uruguay. It also recently closed an acquisition deal with Messer Italia, in which Praxair took over the Italian company's liquid carbon dioxide, oxygen, nitrogen, argon and packaged gases businesses, Chemicals Technology reported.
