EnCana, one of North America’s largest natural gas companies, is proposing the placement of natural gas fueling stations in Canada -- from the city of Windsor to the Ontario-Quebec boundary -- for the drivers on Canada’s Highway 401. New drilling technologies are successfully retrieving more gas from what was once thought to be inaccessible shale.  Therefore, ample supplies of gas are now available (and will be available well into the future) to serve the transportation market as well as all the traditional gas markets.

EnCana’s President and CEO, Randy Eresman, commented on the current natural gas situation saying that, “This abundance will help ensure an affordable future for expanding natural gas in our economy, primarily by displacing foreign oil in transportation and by fuelling electricity generation. While the use of natural gas as a convenient and economic transportation fuel for trucks and cars is not common in North America, it is in wide use on other continents. As a step in that direction, EnCana has started to convert a portion of its vehicle fleet to run on natural gas in select Canadian and U.S. operating locations.”

There is no doubt that infrastructure expansion through the creation of natural gas fueling stations will increase visibility of the product and promote usage by drivers along Canada’s most-traveled road.

The truck drivers in Calgary seem to be in favor of the push to use natural gas, considering the changes would result in a third less greenhouse gases and cheaper transportation costs for trucking companies.

David Hill, who is leading EnCana’s conversion process, said that about ten percent of its entire U.S. fleet will be converted during the initial program. Hill said that this increased investment in new fuelling facilities will allow EnCana to continue to expand its natural gas-powered fleet and encourage other companies to make the move as well.