OriginOil: Extending the Algae Appliance technology to the oil patch significantly enhances company’s prospects.
Ian Gilson, CFA
OriginOil (OOIL) has announced that initial testing of the Algae Appliance suggests that the technology could be used to separate oil, solids and water in liquids recovered from fracturing operations.
Water used in drilling operations will flow back to the surface. The liquids contain oil, oil in water emulsions and organics dissolved in the water as well as suspended solids. This contaminated wastewater must be treated before it can be reused or disposed of. Currently it takes chemical treatment, and time, to break up the mixture. Industry sources estimate that the cost of treatment can be as much as $0.25 a gallon. Current US oil exploration creates 650 billion gallons to 850 billion gallons of waste water and estimates of world-wide production is over 2,200 billion gallons. The potential treatment market exceeds $500 billion.
Using the Appliance Origin Oil has been able to separate the oil and solids from the water. The oil has an economic value offsets the cost of treatment and the water can be reused in the hydraulic fracturing process. The process is quicker and should be less expensive than the current separation methods.
The company still has to prove the process works in field trials and in scaling up the equipment for use in the oil fields. Once that is done Origin Oil will license the process.
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