CNG Fleet Strategy Starts at the Top: Laredo Petroleum Transitions to Westport WiNG™ Powered Ford Super Duty Trucks

At Laredo Petroleum, the use of natural gas vehicles (NGVs) starts at the top. Chairman and CEO Randy A. Foutch leads by example and walks the talk. Foutch, who is known for having compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles as his personal vehicles to drive, is also the company’s number one ambassador of the products it produces and sells.

“Our strategy for our fleet operations is a top down approach,” says Luke Duke, procurement agent for Laredo. “Not only do natural gas vehicles use a cleaner burning fuel that costs about $1 per gallon less than petroleum, as an exploration and production (E&P) company, we believe we should be using the products that we produce.”

Anadarko Propels its Ford Fleet with Natural Gas

When Anadarko’s then CEO, Jim Hackett told the company he wanted a natural gas vehicle added to the company’s sizable fleet in 2009, it marked an important shift as the company began to adopt NGVs within its fleet.

“That same original natural gas vehicle is still in use and being driven by one of our managers,” says Steve Altus from Anadarko’s office in The Woodlands, Texas.

Steve, a supply chain manager with Anadarko, says that by the end of 2014 the company will have close to 450 NGVs in its fleet – accounting for almost 20 per cent of its 2,500 vehicles. The alternative fuel fleet consists mostly of light duty trucks, such as half and three quarter ton vehicles like the Ford F-250 with the Westport WiNG™ Power System operating on a bi-fuel system of compressed natural gas (CNG) and gasoline.

Steve Altus, a supply chain manager with Anadarko, says that by the end of 2014, the company will have close to 450 NGVs in its fleet, accounting for almost 20 per cent of its 2,500 vehicles.