OKLAHOMA CITY -- Love's Travel Stops & Country Stores Inc. has announced a schedule of grand opening events for six of 10 publicly accessible compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations.
Construction began in December shortly after Love's announced its commitment to offer CNG fueling stations at several of its existing locations across Oklahoma.
Thanks to a partnership with Chesapeake Energy Corp., Love's will now offer CNG in Altus(grand opening event May 11), Chickasha (May 4), Guthrie (June 8), Lawton (June 12), Norman (July 13) and Oklahoma City (two on July 13). As part of the partnership, Love's plans to open four additional CNG fueling stations in 2012--in Pauls Valley, Okemah and Guymon, as well as a second in Oklahoma City.
"We recognize the importance of expanding our fueling options to meet the diverse needs of our customers," said Jenny Love Meyer, Love's vice president of communications. "As more and more corporate and government entities convert their fleets to CNG, we believe demand on the commercial and consumer side will escalate accordingly. We are pleased to partner with Chesapeake to improve accessibility for CNG, a fuel produced in Oklahoma."
The addition of 10 new CNG stations brings the company's CNG infrastructure count to 11 and gives Oklahoma more than 70 existing or planned public CNG stations. Love's opened its first CNG fueling station in 2011 in Kingfisher where several companies, including Chesapeake, operate CNG fleet vehicles.
CNG currently sells for $1.69 per gallon equivalent, making it a less-expensive fueling option for consumer and fleet vehicles alike.
"Love's leadership commitment to open 10 additional CNG fueling locations was a major endorsement for the future of CNG," said Taylor Shinn, Chesapeake senior director of corporate development. "CNG continues to have the potential to be a major player in the transportation fuels market, not only in our state but across the country. As two Oklahoma-based companies, we are proud to support and expand the use of clean, affordable, and Oklahoma-produced natural gas."
Each grand opening event will feature remarks from Love's and Chesapeake representatives, as well as local and state officials. Attendees will also include representatives from local companies that have already converted their fleets to CNG and those considering conversion. The group will gather for a ceremonial "first fill" of a natural gas vehicle at the fueling station to commemorate the event.
Chesapeake Energy, Oklahoma City, is the second-largest producer of natural gas, a Top 15 producer of oil and natural gas liquids and the most active driller of new wells in the nation.
In other company fueling news, Love's said that it is now offering bulk diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) at more than half of its travel stop locations across the country.
The company is on track to have bulk DEF available at all travel stops by the end of the year; 124 of Love's 230 locations now offer bulk DEF at 580 lanes on the diesel islands. Drivers will have access to more than 1,300 lanes of bulk DEF throughout Love's network before the end of 2012.
"Love's has placed a heavy focus on the rollout of bulk DEF this year because we understand the importance of offering this convenience to our customers," said Jon Archard, director of fleet sales at Love's. "The investment we've made to quickly add DEF pumps to our locations ultimately saves time and money for professional drivers. We are pleased that we've passed the halfway point and look forward to completing the rollout process this year."
Oklahoma City-based Love's, which remains entirely family owned and operated, has more than 290 locations in 39 states.
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