The Globe and Mail: Shell aims to fuel Great Lakes freighters with liquefied natural gas

Royal Dutch Shell PLC hopes to pump natural gas into Great Lakes freighters, as it seeks new ways to lift demand for a struggling commodity.

Shell on Monday unveiled plans to build a small liquefied natural gas plant in Sarnia, Ont., to provide fuel to marine traffic, as well as trucks and trains. Another new plant is planned for Geismar, La., which will serve ships sailing the Gulf of Mexico and the Intracoastal Waterway, along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts of the United States.

The new plants are part of a growing energy industry push to make natural gas into a transportation fuel. Construction is already under way at a similar small Shell liquefaction plant west of Calgary, while a Flying J truck stop in the city opened for LNG refuelling on Friday. The Alberta LNG plant will be complete early next year; the two marine-focused facilities will take three years.  MORE