Air Products said it has entered into a long-term agreement with Shell for the supply of a significant portion of the hydrogen requirements at Shell's Deer Park refinery in Texas. The hydrogen supply will commence in mid-2013.

The Deer Park facility will be connected to Air Products' Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline supply network that serves multiple refinery and petrochemical companies in the region.

Air Products said it is also working toward enhancing its hydrogen pipeline supply capability in the Gulf Coast to make it the world's largest hydrogen pipeline network.

The new Gulf Coast hydrogen pipeline network is expected to be operational in 2012.

Hydrogen is widely used in petroleum refining processes to remove impurities found in crude oil such as sulfur, olefins and aromatics to meet the product fuels specifications.