CALGARY, Alberta–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall joined representatives from R.I.I. North America Inc. (RII) to announce the commissioning of RII’s enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project in Lloydminster today. Representatives from lead RII investors KLP Enterprises, the family office of Michael Vlock and Karen Pritzker, and Praxair, Inc., the largest supplier of industrial gases in North and South America, were also in attendance.
“Recovering old oil with new ideas is just one reason our oil and gas sector is one of the most dynamic and innovative in our entire economy,” said Premier Brad Wall. “Saskatchewan’s government fully supports this kind of sustainable growth, especially during this time of volatility. This is the kind of investment that has earned our province a reputation as the top jurisdiction in Canada, and among the top 10 in the world, for petroleum investment attractiveness.”
Fred Schneider, President & CEO of RII and inventor of the STRIP process—RII’s cost-effective and emissions-reducing heavy oil recovery technology—said the project “will confirm that STRIP is a disruptive technology in the Western Canadian Oil industry. In terms of upstream carbon intensity, Canada’s ‘dirty oil’ will soon meet or exceed its best-performing global competitors, while STRIP’s cost efficiency will ultimately result in greater royalty revenue for investment-friendly provinces like Saskatchewan.”
STRIP (Solvent Thermal Resource Innovations Process) is an oil recovery method that injects steam to increase heavy oil production. To date, RII has spent over $50 mm developing STRIP. Whereas conventional thermal oil recovery methods involve steam generated on the surface and injected through several hundred meters of piping, STRIP utilizes a burner placed in proximity to the oil reservoir to heat injected water, creating steam “downhole”. The steam heats the oil in the reservoir, mobilizing it towards adjacent production wells where the oil is recovered.
“We are excited to be invested in the development of this potentially game-changing technology and look forward to RII bringing STRIP to market,” said Michael Vlock from KLP Enterprises. “STRIP not only represents innovation from an economic standpoint, but also from an environmental perspective, which is particularly relevant in the context of increasing global awareness for responsible environmental stewardship.”
The STRIP Pilot Project, located 25km southeast of Lloydminster, is the first production-scale test of the STRIP technology, and aims to demonstrate its technical and commercial viability. The process is expected to raise average recovery rates from 5 percent to as much as 45 percent in certain reservoirs, while reducing thermal injection operating costs by 50 percent, capital costs by 70 percent, and resulting in energy savings of approximately 30 percent or greater when compared to surface steam generation processes.
“We’re excited to be here with the RII team for this important step in the development of STRIP technology,” said Scott Gray, VP Industrial Gases for Praxair Canada. “At Praxair’s core, we believe in working with our customers to innovate. We are proud to have supported RII over the past few years as they developed this solution to a mixture of economic, environmental and energy challenges.”
About RII
RII is a privately-held Calgary-based oil company that owns the North American intellectual property rights for the patented STRIP EOR technology. The efficiencies realized through downhole steam generation result in significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, and full-scale STRIP projects will be able to recycle and re-inject produced water instead of using fresh water, greatly reducing water consumption. For more information, visit www.riina.ca.
