Oil sands production in Alberta has been reviled for its damaging
effects on the environment, and rightfully so. The water and
steam-driven extraction process requires enormous tailings ponds and
mars the landscape.
But one company has pioneered a novel way of extracting oil sands
without all of the environmental fallout. MCW
Energy has developed a water-free, solvent-based approach to oil
sands production, a process that recovers up to 99 percent of the
hydrocarbon content. That allows the producer to avoid the need for
toxic tailings ponds. The solvents are recycled and with almost no waste
left over, the produced sand can then be returned to the ground. In
other words, it is a clean form of oil sands production.
MCW
has a processing facility in Utah that has an initial capacity of 250
barrels per day, with plans to scale up. It chose Utah for a reason –
the state’s Uintah Basin is thought to hold more than an estimated 30
billion barrels of oil across eight deposits. Unlike Alberta’s oil
sands, the reserves in Utah are much closer to the surface, which allows
for unique approaches like MCW’s solvent technology.
Of course, energy companies are always coming up with new and
interesting ways to produce oil and gas. The big question is whether or
not new technologies are economical. An independent report found that
with oil prices at $80 per barrel, MCW’s technology can produce a barrel
for just $35. And if WTI fell to $35 per barrel, MCW can produce for $24.
MCW is also looking at novel revenue streams, such as licensing its
technology to other producers. The first license was awarded to Canadian
TS Energy, a company that will have the rights to use the solvent-based
technology in Canada and Trinidad and Tobago.
Led by a former top executive at ExxonMobil’s Gulf of Mexico division, MCW
views a benign extraction process as the future of energy production.
With environmental scrutiny on Alberta’s dirty oil sands rising, the
long-term viability of natural resource production depends on the
industry finding cleaner ways of doing business.
By. James Burgess of Oilprice.com
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160706005375/en/
Copyright Business Wire 2016
Source: Business Wire
(July 6, 2016 - 8:00 AM EDT)
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