1. Natural Gas Fueling Solutions for E&P:
Industry Leader Thigpen’s Perspectives
Key Insight from the CEO of Thigpen Energy, Sam Thigpen, into the innovative
new natural gas fuelling solutions available for E&P customers

2. Sam Thigpen is, CEO and founder of Thigpen Energy, has taken the time
to give us key insight into his company’s activities in the run up to the
Natural Gas for E&P conference, part of the Natural Gas for off Road
Event (16-18 June, Houston). Thigpen has been making waves in the
natural gas fuelling solutions space with their complete fuelling solutions.
Can you briefly explain what Thigpen Energy does as a
company
We are an oil and gas service company, and we focus on three different
lines of business; we do oilfield site automation, high horse power diesel
conversions and natural gas fuelling solutions for drilling and pressure
pumping fleets.
What was it that made you decide to pursue creating
natural gas fuelling solutions?
We already had oil and gas customers in our automation business, and
two years ago we were also doing natural gas fuelling for transportation
markets, so we were building CNG and LNG fuelling facilities and
providing service in the transportation market. Our oil and gas customers
were asking whether we could marry our two services or automation
services for them and fuelling services for transportation and help them
come up with solutions for natural gas fueling. That’s how we got into
that business and that felt like a natural step for us because we already
had experience dealing with the oil and gas industry and in the fuelling
business so we just married the two skills together.
E&P is currently your core industry, what made you decide
to have this industry as your focus?
Since the oil and gas industry has always been my focus from a service
company stand point when we saw the opportunity in the E&P market for
natural gas fueling we felt like for us, as a company from our background
coming from the oil fields, to start with that was a better focus and more
opportunity for us than the transportation market for our natural gas
fuelling solutions. And so that was why we started to focus on the E&P
for natural gas fuelling.
What are your views on the growth potential for this area?
I think there is huge growth potential. I think we have an enormous rig
count in North America, there are a large amount of pressure pumping
fleets running every day in North America and the appetite here in the
United States to burn natural gas for fuel from not only a cost saving
standing point but from an environmental stand point; I think the
appetite is very large right now. So the technology has been developed
for the engines to run efficiently on natural gas and I think now,each and
every company will start to implement programs in their fleets to get
converted. I think the market potential is huge and will grow each and
every year.
© FC Business Intelligence ® 2011
Natural Gas for E&P
Applications
Part of the Natural Gas
for Off Road Applications
16, 17 + 18 June, Houston, Texas
www.offroadnaturalgas.com
Natural Gas Fueling Solutions for E&P:
Industry Leader Thigpen’s Perspectives
Sam Thigpen
CEO
Thigpen Energy

3. Tell us about your portable LNG fuelling system
The solution we came up with uses heated vaporization instead of
ambient,in order to vaporize enough LNG to handle an entire frack
spread and be able to fuel all the pumps at the same time. We also
developed a manifold system that gives us a better volume of natural gas
to the pressure pumpers all at the same time, whichallows all of the
pumps to have an adequate volume of natural gas. So by using the heat
for vaporization and designing a manifold system that provides sufficient
volume, we were able to take LNG directly from a storage
transport/storage container, vaporize it on site and pipe it over to the
frack fleet and fuel all of them on LNG at the same time. In our portable
fuelling system, we looked at the vaporization and the piping solution as
being integral parts of how to fuel an entire frack spread all at the same
time.
What experience do you have in project development for
natural gas to fuel E&P?
Our experience is developing LNG solutions for entire frack spreads, but
we have also developed field gas fueling systems for frack spreads and
drilling rigs. And we are currently working on developing a flare gas
process to take flare gas on the pad site and clean it up to turn into fuel
for drilling rigs and frack spreads.
What strategic partnerships do you think are necessary for
advancing natural gas fuel for E&P?
I think the main partnerships for service providers like myself
includefinding a way to get reliable logistics for LNG transportation and
getting a reliable LNG fuel supply. I think they are the two key
partnerships that service companies like myself need to get to the table,
so we can put together an entire package to offer to the client and they
know that the equipment, logistics and the fuel are all going to be there
when they make their conversion.
What has been the most significant challenge that you have
faced so far when developing these projects and how have
you overcome them?
I think the most significant challenges we’ve seen have been equipment
availability. On the LNG vaporization side the conversions can happen in
a matter of days and what we have seen is the equipment to be
manufactured to store and vaporise LNG on a frack site or drill site from a
new build stand point can take 16-20 weeks to get new equipment. So
when you have fleets that can convert in a week, but service companies
can’t get equipment for 20 weeks you have a huge disconnect on timing
and it’s hard for us. One of the biggest challenges is working with the
end users; the LNG clients to help them give us the lead time necessary
to deploy enough equipment but at the same time get the commitment
from them that they are going to need that service so we can justify
expending the capital to order the new equipment as well.
Natural Gas for E&P
Applications
Part of the Natural Gas
for Off Road Applications
16, 17 + 18 June, Houston, Texas
www.offroadnaturalgas.com
Natural Gas Fueling Solutions for E&P:
Industry Leader Thigpen’s Perspectives

4. Looking forward, what is your outlook for the industry and
how do you see Thigpen Energy’s role developing over the
next few years?
I think the industry will continue to grow, I think the natural gas fuelling,
drilling and pressure pumping will continue to grow exponentially each
and every year. Right now our plan is to continue to be a part of that.
Our goal is to continue to take market share in the fuelling solutions and
whether that’s LNG gas, flare gas or whatever the fuel medium might be.
Our goal is to continue to supply solutions to the E&P clients to facilitate
them burning natural gas for fuel.
Natural Gas Fueling Solutions for E&P:
Industry Leader Thigpen’s Perspectives
You can hear more from Sam Thigpen at the Natural Gas
for E&P Event, which will take place 17 + 18 June in
Houston as part of the Natural Gas for Off Road Event.
For more information visit our website
www.offroadnaturalgas.com
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