Canada : Irving to make LNG available to its select stations [TendersInfo (India)]

Select Irving stations will very soon be able to refuel transport trucks running on natural gas.

Last month, Irving Oil Ltd. announced that the five of its fuelling stations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec will have the liquefied natural gas, or LNG.

During a panel discussion on natural gas during the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association Transportation Summit in Halifax, Bill Howell of Irving Oil said the company has recognized the viability of natural gas for a segment of the trucking population.

Howell said they are looking at developing an LNG corridor from Halifax to Montreal, and potentially further into Quebec and Ontario.

He said they are ready to go out and begin developing infrastructure so that fleets can use (natural gas). He added that they have had some good discussions with their fleet customers, and they are looking at this for their own fleet of trucks as well.

Work has already started to transition the Irving Big Stop in Enfield. A store employee said Wednesday that work at the site is in connection with the building of a new convenience store.

Though the project was announced in October by Howell, an Irving spokesperson said Wednesday that the company is not able to offer more details about the project and further details are expected to be revealed in coming weeks.

During the panel discussion in October, Howell said the LNG fuelling equipment is being installed at existing truck stops so diesel- and natural gas-powered trucks can fill up at the same locations.

Howell said the company plans to open its first LNG fuelling stations by the end of 2013, starting in the Halifax region and moving west.

The construction of the fuelling stations is progressing as scheduled at the same time increasing number of transport companies are investing in trucks that run on super-chilled natural gas.

On Wednesday, Canada s Bison Transport announced it is working with Shell Canada on a five-year agreement to deploy 15 trucks in Alberta powered by LNG.

The refuelling of trucks can be done at public-access Shell LNG facilities at Flying J travel stops in Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer.

In the summer, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it will be investing $300 million to build 200 LNG pumps at 100 of the largest truck stops in the United States.

Last year, the company set up its first network of LNG filling stations in Canada after building a small LNG plant in Calgary that makes the equivalent of 1.1 million litres of diesel a day.