Southern coal-seam gas (CSG) explorer L&M Energy is working with an Invercargill trucking and service station company on possibly using liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its prospects near Ohai as transport fuel.
L&M Energy's managing director of CSG, Kent Anson, said in a statement the Richardson Group's large business interests around the country and its transport and fuel-distribution experience made it a "natural partner" as L&M worked towards production of its CSG reserves in Southland.
Invercargill-based HW Richardson Group Ltd is one of New Zealand's largest privately-owned firms, with more than 1000 employees, 740 trucks and interests including fuel distribution through subsidiary Allied Petroleum at more than 60 service stations throughout the country.
L&M managing director for petroleum John Bay said the company was looking at all options for using an estimated 173 petajoules of 3P (proven, probable plus possible) coal-seam gas it had identified during exploration drilling near Ohai.
More work was required to confirm field productivity, but Mr Bay estimated four to five petajoules of gas per year was potentially available, which would convert to about 320,000 litres a day of diesel-equivalent.
In a joint statement from L&M and Richardson, they said LNG-powered vehicles were becoming commonplace in other parts of the world, including Australia, where LNG was being recognised as resulting in significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions compared with traditional fuels such as diesel and petrol, and also provided "price insulation" from volatile global oil-price fluctuations.
