HALIFAX, N.S. — Irving Oil is planning to make liquefied natural gas (LNG) available at five of its existing fuelling stations in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec.

Bill Howell of Irving Oil made the announcement at the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association (APTA) Transportation Summit here today.

“Irving has recognized the viability of natural gas for a segment of the trucking population,” Howell said during a panel discussion on natural gas. “We are looking at developing an LNG corridor from Halifax to Montreal, and potentially further into Quebec and Ontario. We see this as a critical cog in making this whole thing work. Many people in the industry talk about the chicken and egg dilemma. We’re willing to go out and begin developing infrastructure so that fleets can use (natural gas). We’ve had some good discussions with our fleet customers and we’re looking at this for our own fleet of trucks as well.”

Irving will install LNG fuelling equipment into its existing truck stops, Howell said. That way, fleets that run both diesel- and natural gas-powered trucks can fuel up at the same locations. The company plans to open the first “one or two” of its LNG fuelling stations towards the end of 2013 with the remaining set to come online in 2014.

Howell said the company will start the corridor with development in Halifax and work its way west.