TRINIDAD — On October 30, state and local officials came together to break ground on southern Colorado’s first Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fill station, to be located at Duran Oil’s Goddard Shell station, just off I-25. Ray Duran of Duran Oil Co. and owner of JR’s Fuel Stops, commented on the partnership with Sparq Natural Gas of Oklahoma City, OK, welcoming the use of the abundant resources of southern Colorado. He noted that CNG is a good long-term fuel and fits the model for price stability. Additionally, the Trinidad station is perfectly located, nearly equidistant between Denver, Albuquerque, and Amarillo. He stated it is only through co-operation with Pioneer Natural Resources that such a venture could be possible and this fill station will put Trinidad on the map for CNG users. Mack Louden, Las Animas County Commissioner noted that, back in November of 2011, a CNG powered car ran out of fuel in Trinidad. A resident towed them up to Pioneer Natural Resources’ site on Highway 12 where they provided him with enough CNG to get to the next station. That event put into motion the cooperative efforts leading to Thursday’s groundbreaking. Pete Fraser with South Central Council of Governments noted that some
years back, when the Raton Basin Regional Development Strategic plan was being formulated, she and others took 35 hours of required technical training which proved invaluable during the years leading up to this day. Norman Herrera, CEO of Sparq Natural Gas, stated that, at $1 per gallon less expensive than gasoline, CNG offers an economical alternative to gasoline, a clean, lower emission choice, and promotes domestic security through local production. Furthermore, there are over 50 makes and 100 models of CNG vehicles already produced and conversion to CNG fuelling is readily available. The new fill station is expected to be open by early 2015.
