Posted on 01/22/2013 5:35:42 AM PST by thackney
The future or the flavor of the month?
Some of the businesspeople who crowded around as driver David Cox pumped natural gas into his 18- wheeler Monday weren’t sure that the fuel – plentiful and cheap in the United States because of shale drilling – is inevitable as a substitute for diesel.
But that didn’t stop them from pulling out their iPhones to document the moment as they considered the evidence.
“You see the oil companies getting into it,” said Marion Barnes, president of Frontier Trailer Associates in Rocky Mount, N.C. “They’re spending billions, not millions. Boone Pickens is spending billions, not millions on it, and it’s right here in the United States of America.”
Barnes was one of several dozen people touring the Clean Energy Fuels Corp. liquefied natural gas fueling station at the Pilot Flying J truck stop in Baytown, part of a daylong kickoff for the World LNG Fuels 2013 conference.
Convention-goers also toured Clean Energy’s plant in Willis, which produces vehicle-grade liquefied natural gas. The conference continues through Wednesday at the George R. Brown Convention Center with discussions of expanding natural gas as a transportation fuel.
Clean Energy has more than 300 natural gas refueling stations across the country, said Mike Sullivan, the company’s business development manager. About 80 percent offer compressed natural gas, for passenger cars and light-duty trucks. Long-haul trucks generally use liquefied natural gas because it is lighter and takes up less space, freeing room for cargo.
Shell Oil Co. and Travel Centers of America said last year they will offer natural gas pumps at 100 truck stops nationwide.
Tom Campbell, an analyst with Zeus Development Corp., the Houston-based consulting and research firm producing the conference, said another sign of the growing interest is the number of people signed up.
About 200 people attended last year; about 500 are registered this year – 800 including attendees at a related expo.
Natural gas isn’t just for trucks: Earlier this month, Houston’s Apache Corp. became the first exploration and production company to power an entire hydraulic fracturing job with engines running on natural gas, cutting fuel costs by about 40 percent.
Railroads and the marine industry are also interested, Campbell said.
Cox, a Linde Group driver, paid $2.76 per diesel gallon equivalent Monday as he filled up with liquefied natural gas. (The pump displays the “diesel gallon equivalent price” rather than pricing it by cubic feet.)
Diesel was selling for $3.96 a gallon at the Flying J Monday, so the natural gas was more than a dollar cheaper.
Campbell said it burns more cleanly, adding to the attraction.
But members of Monday’s tour group peppered Cox with questions about performance and convenience.
He said he mostly uses the truck on local runs, since there aren’t enough refueling stations to accommodate long-distance trips easily.
Linde plans to install a portable liquefied natural gas tank in Corpus Christi so drivers can take the trucks to the company’s operations there from Houston, he said.
Cox said the truck gets slightly poorer mileage with natural gas than a similar truck using diesel, but overall performance is good.
“It does a good job on the road,” he said. “As far as pulling, it’s a little less, but in town, it’s great.”
Natural gas has drawn increasing interest as prices remain low in the midst of the shale production boom.
But not everyone is sure the technology has hit a turning point.
“I don’t know,” said Glen Smith, mechanical discipline manager at Argos Consulting in Kansas City, Mo. “It depends on who you talk to.”
But like others at the conference, he and his company don’t want to be left behind.
“It’s obviously the future, but it’s obviously not tomorrow,” said Bill George, president of Eagle Transport. His company, based in North Carolina, moves petroleum products and he is considering whether to expand into transporting natural gas.
“It may be the day after tomorrow,” he said.
LNG is more compact than CNG. It requires less volume to store the same BTU’s.
It also requires refrigeration down to -260°F. That liquid is going to start warming after it is loaded into the vehicle. In a long haul truck or a local fleet service that returns to a service center every night, that is a manageable issue. It would be more difficult for the typical individual commuter.
But the same BTU’s in LNG or CNG will weigh the same. It is the same molecules.
We switched to NATGAS...on the Freeways...when we could. Sometimes...it was dicey. And we would end up on the shoulder for a period of time. Ha!!
Point being....NATGAS powered vehicle's have been around for a long time.
Meaning equities....
I trade stocks...and have some ideas. But what do you think?
Appreciate your expertise...
Was that truck propane, rather than the methane of natural gas by chance?
The buses in Arlington Virginia also run on natural gas
It is interesting that Flying J is involved. They have truck stops at roughly 200 mile intervals on the interstates all over the country. Trucks that run the interstates seem a good prospect and are sort of a captive market. Flying J is the largest seller of Diesel in the country
Flying J bankrupt and was purchased by Pilot.
Pilot is owned and operated by the family of Bill Haslam, Republican Governor of Tennessee. His college roommate was Senator Bob Corker
I learned quite a while back that understanding the oil/gas industry is not the same as understanding the oil/gas market. It wasn't too painful a lesson but it was a lesson.
Besides, I'm still trying to unload these tulips from that big run up...
It is interesting that Flying J is involved.
Pilot / Flying J partnered with Clean Energy Fuels (T. Boone Pickens) a while back. Chesapeake and GE are also involved.
http://energy.aol.com/2012/02/07/lng-trucks-can-keep-on-trucking-la-to-salt-lake/
http://www.cleanenergyfuels.com/pdf/CE-OS.ANGH.012412.pdf
I suspect Pilot/FJ are mostly involved by providing existing stations with space for the expansion on key routes. The initial plans started with announcements from Clean Energy then added partners along the way.
There have been a lot of folks crunching numbers while figuring out how to put it all together and make it happen.
There is strength in synergy and lots of mind power has been used to create that synergy.
It’ll be interesting to see what kind of job they did and how it all pans out
NATGAS
I like the idea of short run trucks and especially “city” sevice vechiles using natural gas to help keep the engines clean and low maintanence.
Lots of garbage trucks are going with CNG these days.
Do you remember if they used 3,600 psi tank like they do today? I was curious if that had always been the case.
I think waste mgt. company has started to use them...BTW still a fan of your work on oil.
Waste Management has the nation’s largest fleet of heavy-duty trucks that run on clean-burning natural gas. We have 2,000-plus such trucks working across North American cities today, and we’re on a path to convert our 18,000 collection vehicle fleet to natural gas.
BTW, thanks for your reply.. re: Stocks
No advice is better than bad advice you might trust.
No sweat...Thanks!!
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