Sunday, September 23, 2012

Pilot Flying J Truck Stop At The 13-Mile Corner North Of Williston

I don't recall posting this earlier or seeing it at the Williston Wire. A writer comments that Pilot is building a truck stop at the 13-mile corner north of Williston. This is an incredible location. Remember, Love's is also building north of Williston.

According to wiki:
Currently, Pilot Flying J is the largest purveyor of over-the-road diesel fuel in the United States. Pilot Flying J also is known as the largest Travel Center chain in the country with over 550 locations under the Pilot and Flying J brands. Pilot Flying J is also the third largest franchisor of quick service restaurants in the nation, offering one to three different concepts at each location, and is also the largest franchisee ofSubway in the world with over 200 locations. Unlike many travel centers and truck stops, the majority of locations with the Pilot Travel Centers brand do not utilize full-service dining.
Wow, it would be great if these truck stops would see a market for natural gas vehicles. I'm counting on Heckmann to raise the bar.

NOTE: first comment from "anon 1": Pilot Flying J is the key LNG truck stop partner for Clean Energy Fuels' Natural Gas Highway. Additional information in a SeekingAlpha.com article.

And, again, a huge "thank you" to a reader for alerting me to this development. I would be curious to hear what all is being developed at the 13-mile corner. The corner is in Tyrone oil field, just west of the East Fork field.

Just for the fun of it, there is one producing well right at the 13-mile corner, on the northwest side:
  • 19048, 705, Petro-Hunt, Borrud 156-101-11D-2-1H, t8/11; cum 69K 7/12;
When I was a teen-ager (probably the summers between my sophomore and senior years of high school) I picked rocks on Dr Borrud's land a few miles north of the 13-mile corner on the east side of US Highway 85. It was the most back-breaking work I had ever done, but it was not the worst job I have ever had.

6 comments:

  1. Pilot flying J is the key LNG truck stop partner for Clean Energy Fuels' Natural Gas Highway.

    Anon 1

    ReplyDelete
  2. It costs about $1.2 million to install a LNG filling station, with very long filling times.

    Compare that to $30-$50k for a propane filling station & about the same time to fill as an everday gas pump.

    Also compare the size & weight of tanks on the vehicles, big advantage again to propane. The only reason LNG is even remotely viable is because a good portion of the money they get from their captive customers is then used to lobby corrupt politicians of both parties.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I started this blog, I knew almost nothing about natural gas; since then I've learned much. I'm still at a loss to explain the advantages/disadvantages involving LNG and CNG for transportation, but I assume over time it will become clearer.

      Lobbying uncorrupt and corrupt politicians is probably neither new nor unique.. Some, I suppose (not me, of course) would argue that "corrupt politicians" is an oxymoron, but I digress.

      "King of the Hill" is about all I know regarding propane (and occasional use of propane grills owned by others). I still use briquets.

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  3. According to the Dept of Energy (take it for what it's worth), there are currently just under 2500 propane refuelling stations across the US versus just 519 nat gas refuelling stations. & that comes with currently NO federal subsidies to the propane industry or legislation supporting additional propane refueling stations. The free market at work!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking time to comment. As noted above, I really have no "feel" for the propane (LPG?), LNG, CNG, as it pertains to transportation, but hopefully Heckmann and PowerFuels in the Bakken will shed some light on all of this. I'm looking forward to following the industry.

      Delete
    2. You're welcome, Bruce. When you have a little extra time, just google "autogas" for additional information on propane as an alternative fuel. It is the third most used auto fuel in the world, with a fraction of the infrastructure costs of CNG setup & about 30% less than the cost of gasoline for a fillup. Propane is a by-product of oil & natural gas processing & America is a net exporter of the product. 99% of the propane used in this country is produced here.

      Delete

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