A high-octane consortium with deep fueling and financing on Wednesday said it had formed Eagle LNG Partners to develop a network of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) production facilities.

The announcement was made at the High Horsepower Summit in Chicago. Eagle LNG is designed to provide customers with technology and know-how to switch to LNG. The partnership would develop, own and operate the LNG production projects, seeking to put these facilities and an uninterrupted supply of fuel within easy reach of fleet operators.

General Electric (GE) units GE Ventures and GE Energy Financial Services join Clean Energy Fuels Corp. and Ferus Natural Gas Fuels in the Eagle venture, which would pursue the growing LNG market for heavy-duty truck fleets. It also would pursue oil and natural gas services applications, along with mining and marine.

Each partner brings a different strength. GE Energy Financial brings capital, GE Ventures has commercial/technical innovations, Ferus specializes in cryogenic and micro-LNG plants, and Clean Energy develops and operates the small LNG production facilities.

The partnership is considering developing LNG production facilities in Colorado, Florida, North Dakota, Ohio, Texas and the state of Washington. The projects are intended to build on existing Clean Energy and Ferus fueling plants, as well as jointly developed LNG facility projects by GE affiliates and Clean Energy (see Daily GPI, Nov. 14, 2012). Last year GE Oil & Gas and Clean Energy began work on two of as many as 10 LNG facilities that would have 1 million gallon/day capacities.

NGVAmerica President Rich Kolodziej said the partnership was another indication that “LNG is going to be a major player in the transportation sector,” and in the combined long-haul trucking, marine transport, rail and oil/gas field services sectors “you are talking about a lot of gas.” Kolodziej said the partners represent “A-to-Z across the value chain” for LNG in transportation.

The consortium said it believes the growth in U.S. unconventional gas resources has created “an ideal environment” for LNG transportation.

GE Energy Financial Managing Director John Shepherd said natural gas was “revolutionizing” long-haul trucking and other high-horsepower applications, giving the United States “a generational opportunity to move to a more secure, less expensive and cleaner-burning fuel.”

Ferus CEO Dick Brown said customers have indicated they want LNG “delivered to their point of consumption at a predictable price and with certainty and redundancy of availability.” Others have underscored that interest (see Daily GPI, July 31).

Clean Energy CEO Andrew Littlefair emphasized that “major” companies in the long-haul trucking sector have intentions to convert their fleets, and the alternative transportation fuel studies have turned up bullish predictions for natural gas in various transportation markets (see Daily GPI, Dec. 17, 2012). “Along with recent announcements by rail and marine companies, it’s easy to understand the need for a significant increase in LNG supply in the United States,” he said.

A spokesperson for Clean Energy said many companies in these different industries are “rapidly trying to convert to LNG,” or are looking at it and know they will be converting in the near future. The partnership is aimed at filling the gap in the production of LNG around the nation, so “this effort is really to fill those regional gaps,” the spokesperson said.

A logistical barrier to widespread use without more production facilities is the fact that LNG is uneconomic to transport onshore by truck at distances beyond about 250 miles, Clean Energy has determined. “This is going to have to be a regional play,” the spokesperson told NGI.