Companies launch new business ventures at ATCE

Several companies have used ATCE as a launching pad for new business ventures aimed at greater recovery of oil resources, both conventional and unconventional. Among them, BJ Services announced its new Shale Technology Team and Nalco Company and Stepan Company officially launched their joint venture for enhanced oil recovery (EOR), Tiorco.

At a Tuesday press conference, Randy LaFollette, Manager of Shale Technology for BJ Services, explained why his company formally developed the Shale Technology Team, and how it can help shale producers all over the world. “Unlike us, many operators and service companies are new to shales. We understand that shales are not uniform reservoirs, and this new team will allow us to provide value to our customers as we focus on reservoir-specific technologies.”

LaFollette explained that the new team, consisting of geological, geomechanical, and engineering services, will focus on giving clients an understanding of reservoir stresses and rock-pore system properties prior to recommending a suitable completion technique. The team will have full access to all of BJ’s stimulation and fracturing technologies for shale reservoirs, including its proprietary GasFlo surfactant for improved load recovery in gas well stimulations, and DirectStim and OptiFrac coiled tubing coupled with FlexPlug multizone horizontal completion systems. The team will draw on BJ’s decades of experience in the Barnett Shale to provide fit-for-purpose shale services on a global basis.

At a Wednesday morning press conference, representatives of Nalco, Stepan, and Tiorco explained the rationale for the EOR joint venture and the contributions each company would make. “We believe that up to now, the EOR market has not been very well organized,” said Bruno Lavandier, President of Tiorco. “This new JV is an opportunity for us to utilize individual company strengths within Tiorco to gain a more global view of the EOR market.”

Tiorco has been around for nearly 30 years, providing EOR solutions to clients primarily based in the US Rocky Mountain region. Nalco acquired Tiorco in June of this year, and restructured it under the JV with Stepan.

Lavandier explained that Nalco’s contribution to the JV will be greater access to a global EOR market through its worldwide operating bases and novel EOR technologies such as BrightWater, which is designed to dramatically increase sweep efficiencies in waterfloods for sandstone reservoirs. Stepan’s major contributions to Tiorco will include its extensive portfolio of surfactants and polymers for EOR applications, as well as nearly 30 years of improved-oil-recovery experience.

“Tiorco will provide solutions for near-wellbore and in-depth reservoir treatments as well as reservoir sweeps,” said Jim Mack, Executive Vice President of Tiorco. “Specific solution offerings include identifying injector-to-producer connectivity, providing total zone isolation and matrix shut-off, improving volumetric sweeps, and increasing residual oil recovery by altering reservoir wettability and using foamers to improve sweep efficiencies in gas injection projects.”

To learn more about BJ’s Shale Technology Team, visit www.bjservices.com. To learn more about Tiorco, visit www.tiorco.com.