IGS opens 3rd CNG station in West Virginia as it expands network across shale territory

Source: Columbus Business First

IGS Energy CNG Services has finished its third compressed natural gas fueling station in West Virginia as its continues to build facilities in shale gas country with an eye toward Ohio.

The Dublin energy supplier broke ground in August on the station costing between $2 million and $3 million in Charleston, W.Va., one of three the company has built along Interstate 79 in the state. The first, in Bridgeport, opened in September. The Charleston location opened in November, and a station in Jane Lew opened in December.

The company’s sole Ohio project, in the Youngstown area, will start in March, spokeswoman Kerri Ward told me. The company expects it to open in May.

IGS Energy has said it also plans onbuilding CNG stations in Pennsylvania, home to the Marcellus shale play with West Virginia.

Company officials said they are evaluating various locations and are close to announcing more stations.

IGS says CNG cuts down on carbon dioxide emissions by up to 30 percent, carbon monoxide by up to 75 percent and particulate matter up to 95 percent compared with gasoline and diesel. It built its first CNG station in Dublin.

Three big players in shale gas – Antero Resources LLC, Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) and EQT Corp. (NYSE: EQT), along with the West Virginia Department of Highways – have committed to using the stations.

“We are proud to provide the businesses and consumers of West Virginia with CNG as an alternative transportation fuel,” IGS Energy President Scott White said in a release.