Rising Gas Prices Fuel Natural Gas Boom In Tulsa Area

A check of the News On Six gas gauge shows another price jump at the pump. A gallon of regular unleaded gasoline will cost you $3.38.

02/16/2012 Related Story: Experts: Gas Will Hit $5 Per Gallon In Oklahoma By Summer

Some folks are paying about $2.00 a gallon less than that to fuel their cars with natural gas. Tulsa is getting a new CNG fueling station open to the public. This will be the 7th public CNG fuel station in Tulsa.

Oklahoma is one of the top states in the nation for CNG stations.

See Oklahoma Natural Gas Stations

Casey Washington is a convert, one to natural gas in his company truck, and one to a different way of thinking about fuel.

"Most definitely save money. I know it's efficient because it runs good, and man, you've got the same power as regular gas, so you're not losing anything, you're just gaining," Washington said.

With CNG costing about $1.49 a gallon, compared to $3.38 for gasoline, Washington's company is saving big.

"I can run over 170 miles off of $11… In a pickup," he said.

Washington is excited that Tulsa will soon have another CNG station open to the public. Apache Corporations' new CNG station at 51st and Yale, its first public station, will open in mid March.

"Oklahoma we've been on a tear with opening up new public CNG stations," said Tim Tomlinson of Apache Corporation.

Apache's Tim Tomlinson says this will be Oklahoma's 50th public CNG station, and Tulsa's 7th. The Oklahoma City area has 11.

More stations are being built, as more drivers are converted like Washington.

"I seen a hummer with one and I couldn't even believe it," Washington said.

With an estimated 125 year reserve of natural gas, experts don't expect volatile price fluctuations in the fuel, like we often get in gas prices.

Tomlinson says price is a big motivator for consumers, but not the only one.

"This is actually Oklahoma gas, not just American, and that's a big deal to a lot of people," Tomlinson said.

Tomlinson says Oklahoma usually ranks third or fourth in the nation in the number of public CNG stations.

State tax incentives are available for new CNG vehicle prices, or to help cover some of the costs for a CNG conversion, which is about $10,000.

Then, drivers have to do the math to see if the conversion cost or higher purchase price will be offset by savings at the pump to see if it is worth it.