Shell and TravelCenters of America announced Monday they have finalized an agreement to develop a U.S. nationwide network of liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling centers for heavy-duty fleet customers and plan to have the first station operational in about a year.

The plan is to construct at least two LNG fueling lanes and a storage facility at up to 100 existing TA and Petro Stopping Centers along the U.S. interstate highway system.

Construction and opening of the LNG stations will be done in a phased approach. The company expects the first of these stations will be operational in roughly one year’s time, with a priority to develop the main trucking corridors to provide the potential for the first-ever coast-to-coast LNG-fueled commercial transport network.

Last year, Shell and TA announced they planned to work together to build an LNG network. Shell is also developing LNG stations at Flying J truckstops in Alberta, Canada, the first of which opened this year.

In March, Shell announced it will invest in two small-scale LNG production units that form the basis of two new LNG transport corridors in the Great Lakes and Gulf Coast regions that will provide LNG to marine and heavy duty road customers.

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