Hydrogen Business Director, West Gulf Coast at Air Products
Preston Kurtz is the Hydrogen Business Director for the West Gulf Coast at Air Products, the world’s largest producer of hydrogen.
Preston joined Air Products in 2009 and served in numerous roles supporting every facet of the North American Hydrogen business: Process Engineering, Process Controls Engineering, Operations, Reliability, Maintenance, Continuous Improvement, and New Plant Design. After serving in positions in Northern and Southern California and at Air Products Corporate headquarters in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Preston moved to Houston in 2016, where he served as Business Improvement Manager for the North American Hydrogen Business. In 2019 he assumed the role of Supply Chain Manager, overseeing operation of Air Products’ North American regulated pipelines, including the world’s largest hydrogen pipeline system in the US Gulf Coast and the world’s largest carbon monoxide pipeline system in Houston, Texas. In 2020, Preston was appointed to serve as the Integration Manager for Air Products’ $0.5 billion acquisition of five hydrogen facilities from PBF Energy, before assuming the West Gulf Coast Hydrogen Business Director role in 2021.
In his current role, Preston leads Air Products’ West Gulf Coast Hydrogen Business, encompassing world scale hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and syngas production facilities and pipelines stretching from Freeport, TX to Lake Charles, LA. Preston and the Air Products team have been working to establish a leadership position in clean hydrogen production, with noteworthy projects already in operation in Port Arthur, TX, and under construction in Ascension Parish, Louisiana and around the globe. In late 2023, Preston was appointed to the newly formed Hydrogen Production Policy Council within the Texas Railroad Commission, tasked with providing insight and recommendations to the Texas Legislature concerning the regulatory oversight of hydrogen production, transportation, and storage in Texas.