OREANDA-NEWS. June 27, 2013. Apache Corporation (NYSE, Nasdaq: APA) presented a USD 20,000 donation to Elk City, Okla., that will be used to help purchase two new natural gas-powered Ford pickup trucks.

The donation will provide USD 10,000 toward the purchase of each Ford original-equipment compressed natural gas (CNG) truck to offset the cost of the CNG option. The vehicles will be used by Elk City for the Streets and Inspection departments. In addition, Apache is donating USD 2,000 to cover the cost of a year's supply of CNG for both trucks.

"Oklahoma has been home to Apache employees since the company's first well was drilled here more than 50 years ago," said Larry Bledsoe, Apache district manager. "Elk City was the location of the first CNG station we built. Both the city and community here have been very good to us and we're pleased to support the city's efforts to use clean-burning natural gas in its vehicles."

Since the first station was built in Elk City in 2009, Apache has constructed a total of 20 CNG stations in cities where it operates in Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Louisiana. The company has converted over 400 of its fleet vehicles to CNG with long term plans to convert 80 percent of the fleet.

Bledsoe presented a giant ceremonial credit card to Elk City Mayor Dan Gambill at the City Council meeting today and also offered the city access to Apache's CNG station, which is used for private fleet refueling.

"Apache is not only a community leader, but a close community partner to Elk City," Gambill said. "CNG is a growing component to our city's infrastructure, and Apache's donation shows the power of public-private collaboration to get things done."

Apache, which has Central Region operations based in Tulsa, has 129 employees in the Elk City office and 369 employees throughout Oklahoma.

All full-time Apache employees who purchase a new CNG vehicle or convert their vehicle to CNG receive a USD 5,000 Visa credit card to be used for fuel purchase.

There are currently more than 120,000 natural gas vehicles on America's roads today and more than 13 million worldwide, according to Natural Gas Vehicles for America. Industry data shows that vehicular natural gas nearly doubled between 2003 and 2009. In 2010, natural gas displaced more than 350 million gasoline gallon equivalents each year. The International Association for Natural Gas Vehicles estimates that there will be more than 50 million natural gas vehicles worldwide within the next 10 years, or about 9 percent of the world transportation fleets.