3M & Chesapeake Energy Corporation Partner
to Create New CNG Tank Technology
Partnership signals growing strength of natural gas transportation fuel market
ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA and OKLAHOMA CITY, OKLAHOMA – Feb. 21, 2012 - 3M (NYSE:MMM) and Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) today announced an agreement to collaborate in designing, manufacturing and marketing a broad portfolio of compressed natural gas (CNG) tanks for use in all sectors of the United States transportation market. Currently the fuel tank on a CNG vehicle is its most expensive single component. The new CNG tanks developed through the 3M and Chesapeake partnership will reduce costs while increasing performance. Less expensive tanks will enable greater market adoption of CNG as an alternative automotive fuel source.
3M’s CNG tank solution combines the company’s proprietary liner advancements, thermoplastic materials, barrier films and coatings, and damage-resistant films to transform the pressure vessel industry. Using nanoparticle-enhanced resin technology, 3M™ Matrix Resin for Pressure Vessels, 3M will create CNG tanks that are 10 to 20 percent lighter with 10 to 20 percent greater capacity, all at a lower cost than standard vessels. In addition to these benefits, the 3M technology produces safer and more durable tanks than those currently on the market. This tank innovation builds on 3M’s proven history of developing and introducing pioneering technologies to the market.
“3M believes in the potential of natural gas, and this agreement illustrates our commitment to the industry,” said George Buckley, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of 3M. “We are excited about this collaboration to speed the development and adoption of natural gas-powered vehicles.”
Increased political support and private investment have made natural gas a viable automotive fuel alternative with large growth potential. With more than a 100-year supply of natural gas in the United States and an average price per gasoline gallon equivalent of $1.00 to $2.00, the fuel is plentiful, affordable and domestic. The fuel also burns more cleanly than gasoline, cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent and particulate matter by 95 percent.
“This partnership brings together two leading companies from different sectors, both committed to advancing the natural gas transportation fuel market,” said Aubrey K. McClendon, Chesapeake’s Chief Executive Officer. “We applaud 3M for recognizing the future of natural gas as a low-cost, cleaner alternative to gasoline, and for creating innovative tank technology that will make natural gas vehicles more affordable and accessible to fleets and individual consumers nationwide. Our country needs a solution to break the foreign stranglehold on our fuels market, and today’s announcement is another step to transition our nation away from costly imports.”
Chesapeake has pledged an initial $10 million toward design and certification services, market development support and a commitment to use the new tanks for its corporate fleet conversion to CNG. The company’s investment will be provided by Chesapeake NG Ventures Corporation (CNGV), established in 2011 to identify and invest in companies and technologies that will replace the use of gasoline and diesel derived primarily from foreign oil. CNGV has committed $1 billion over the next 10 years to help fund various initiatives to increase demand for natural gas, including investments totaling $300 million in Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NYSE:CLNE) and privately-held Sundrop Fuels, Inc.
3M has engaged Hypercomp Engineering, Inc. of Utah for the design and certification of tanks. 3M will manufacture the tanks and focus its capital on all future operations and production. 3M expects these tanks to be available for sale during the fourth quarter of 2012.
For more information about the companies and technologies involved, visithttp://www.3M.com/AdvancedComposites or www.chk.com.
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About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $30 billion in sales, 3M employs 84,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries. For more information, visitwww.3M.com or follow @3MNews on Twitter.
3M is a trademark of 3M Company.
About Chesapeake Energy Corporation
Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) is the second-largest producer of natural gas, a Top 15 producer of oil and natural gas liquids and the most active driller of new wells in the U.S. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, the company's operations are focused on discovering and developing unconventional natural gas and oil fields onshore in the U.S. Chesapeake owns leading positions in the Barnett, Haynesville, Bossier, Marcellus and Pearsall natural gas shale plays and in the Granite Wash, Cleveland, Tonkawa, Mississippi Lime, Bone Spring, Avalon, Wolfcamp, Wolfberry, Eagle Ford, Niobrara, Three Forks/Bakken and Utica unconventional liquids plays. The company has also vertically integrated its operations and owns substantial midstream, compression, drilling, trucking, pressure pumping and other oilfield service assets directly and indirectly through its subsidiaries Chesapeake Midstream Development, L.P. and Chesapeake Oilfield Services, L.L.C. and its affiliate Chesapeake Midstream Partners, L.P. (NYSE:CHKM) Further information is available at www.chk.com where Chesapeake routinely posts announcements, updates, events, investor information, presentations and news releases.
Contact:
Michael Gugala
Karwoski & Courage Public Relations
(612) 342-9604
m.gugala@creativepr.com
Lindsay McIntyre
Media Relations Coordinator
Chesapeake Energy Corporation
(405) 935-8486
lindsay.mcintyre@chk.com
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NASA grants HyPerComp Engineering Inc. exclusive licensing rights for ballistic survivable "Robust" pressure vessel technology March 1, 2005
Brigham City, Utah--NASA has awarded HyPerComp Engineering, Inc., a leading high performance composite structures engineering firm, an exclusive license to commercialize a new generation of tougher and safer composite pressure vessels whose applications range from automotive hydrogen fuel storage and improved breathing apparatuses for homeland security to gun-fire survivable fuel storage tanks for military vehicles. The technology is the result of collaboration between NASA and HyPerComp under an SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) contract producing a jointly held patented technology which promises to radically expand the safe operating envelope of high performance composite pressure vessels.
HyPerComp has developed a "benign-failure-mode" capability which greatly reduces the likelihood of catastrophic pressure vessel failures resulting in injury or death. This technology has demonstrated the ability of a composite pressure vessel to survive the impact of a 50 caliber bullet round at 4,500 psi. The benefit of such a capability is readily evident in the form of increased safety for all users of high pressure fuel and oxygen storage who must operate in a environment exposing them to ballistic and other impact hazards. The decreased risk of injury due to fragmentation, explosion and "sympathetic detonation" of highly pressurized storage cylinders is of great potential benefit for the military across the board.
In addition to enhanced robustness, the technology results in a significantly lighter composite pressure vessel than any other currently on the market. The benefits of this lighter technology are not simply extended range for vehicles using such storage cylinders, but less weight for firefighters and "first-responders" breathing apparatuses. The combination of robustness and reduced weight produce lighter and safer commercial storage systems for alternative fuel automobiles and buses, as well as lower operating costs and safer storage for all users of high pressure cylinders.
HyPerComp will undertake the commercialization of this technology and henceforth make it available to both commercial industry and the defense community.
Senator Orrin Hatch states that "for decades, Utah businesses have led the way in turning aerospace technology into important innovations that improve everyday lives. Small businesses like HyPerComp are critical to Utah's economy, creating jobs and boosting our state's bottom line,"
HyPerComp Engineering, Inc. is a renowned Center of Excellence for filament winding and other advanced composites technology in addition to being a NASA designated "Small Business Technology Showcase Firm". The company offers engineering and consulting services including product design, structural analysis, manufacturing expertise, testing, and government approvals. HyPerComp's mission is to provide state-of-the-art solutions in the design of new products, to rapidly complete projects, and to quickly solve problems to ensure client success.
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NASA selects Utah engineering firm to showcase state-of-the-art pressure vessel technologies
April 30, 2003
Brigham City, Utah--NASA has selected HyPerComp Engineering, Inc., a leading consulting and testing company specializing in high performance composite structures engineering, to develop a new generation of tougher and safer composite pressure vessels whose applications could range from automotive hydrogen fuel storage to improved breathing apparatuses for homeland security. NASA awarded HyPerComp a Phase II SBIR (Small Business Innovation Research) contract, which represents validation by both NASA and the Small Business Administration of HyPerComp's success in placing obscure rocket science technology within the reach of practical everyday uses.
The company will be transforming these innovative space technologies into practical applications that will be utilized in the form of increased safety and oxygen storage capacity for firefighters breathing apparatuses, lighter and safer storage systems for alternative fuel automobiles and buses, as well as lower operating costs and safer storage for all users of high pressure cylinders. Consumers and producers alike will share in the practical everyday benefits of these technologies, which were originally developed for space exploration, much like Teflon, freeze-dried foods and personal computers.
"HyPerComp has proven itself a leader in transforming emerging aerospace technology into important applications that improve our everyday lives," says Utah's Senator Orrin Hatch. "It is because of businesses like HyPerComp that the Utah business community maintains its reputation for innovation and excellence."
James Patterson, president of HyPerComp, adds, "HyPerComp's project was chosen by NASA to be among the most likely to spur economic activity and provide a return on taxpayer dollars."
NASA has selected HyPerComp as its "Showcase" of an innovative small business for the national Society for the Advancement of Material Processing Engineers (SAMPE) trade show in Long Beach, California in May 2003, the composite industry's largest. The company will be featured in NASA's booth to showcase its product technology advancements.
Headquartered in Brigham City, Utah, HyPerComp Engineering, Inc. is a renowned Center of Excellence for filament winding and other advanced technology. The company offers engineering and consulting services including product design, structural analysis, manufacturing expertise, testing and government approvals. HyPerComp's mission is to provide state-of-the-art solutions in the design of new products, to rapidly complete projects, and to quickly solve problems to ensure client success.
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For further information contact:
Daryl Thompson Business Development Manager
HyPerComp Engineering, Inc.
(435) 734-1166
darylt@HyPerCompeng.com
