LNG trucks to provide water in Haynesville shale play

April 5, 2011
Encana Natural Gas Inc. will provide LNG from its new mobile LNG fueling stations to Heckmann Water Resources, a California company that provides water hauling services to Encana and other producers in Louisiana’s Haynesville shale gas play.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 5
-- Encana Natural Gas Inc. will provide LNG from its new mobile LNG fueling stations to Heckmann Water Resources, a California company that provides water hauling services to Encana and other producers in Louisiana’s Haynesville shale gas play.

Heckmann recently ordered 200 new LNG trucks from Peterbilt Motors Corp., Denton, Tex. The vehicles are powered by Westport HD Systems from Westport Innovations Inc., Vancouver, BC.

Heckmann plans to convert the company’s water-hauling truck fleet to LNG from diesel and this will make Heckmann the operator of the largest fleet of LNG trucks in North America, according to Encana.

Encana notes that LNG costs 20-40% lower than gasoline or diesel in many regions and that carbon dioxide emissions from natural gas vehicles are up to 30% lower.

Encana will initially dispense LNG to Heckmann's truck fleet from mobile fueling stations, which consist of an insulated LNG tank and dispensing equipment built on a trailer that can be parked at key operating locations in the Haynesville play.

Encana also plans to build its first permanent and public LNG fueling station in the Shreveport, La., area later this year.

Last November, Encana opened its first CNG fueling station at Coushatta in Red River Parish, La. Also, this year, Encana plans to open its next four CNG stations, one in each of the states of Wyoming and Colorado and two in Western Canada.

Heckmann Corp. was created to buy and build companies in the water sector. In 2011, the company acquired additional disposal assets including expansion into the Eagle Ford shale area in South Texas. In early 2010, the company completed a 50-mile water-disposal pipeline in the Haynesville shale, and began expanding the line in 2011 to handle additional produced water and freshwater transportation.

In February 2010, the company announced a joint venture with Energy Transfer Partners to provide turnkey pipeline transportation for complex water flows in the Marcellus and Haynesville oil and natural gas fields.

The company said its acquisition of an oil field produced water disposal and transport company in November 2010, recently renamed Heckmann Water Resources, makes it one of the largest handlers of produced water in North America.