Focus Increases on Heavy Oil Opportunities in Western Canada
Ivanhoe Energy Inc. has successfully completed its key Athabasca bitumen test run at Ivanhoe Energy's Commercial Demonstration Facility (CDF) in California using its proprietary heavy oil upgrading technology (HTL(TM)). This test was an important step for Ivanhoe Energy's business development activities, as well as for the design of full-scale HTL facilities. This run represents the culmination of the CDF testing program carried out over the last two years.
"This successful Athabasca bitumen test is an important milestone for Ivanhoe Energy as we advance our commercial discussions in Western Canada," said Joe Gasca, Ivanhoe Energy's President and CEO.
"The HTL process incorporates numerous advantages over conventional producing and upgrading approaches for heavy oil, and in Athabasca, all of our key benefits come into play: virtual elimination of viscosity, generation of significant amounts of on-site energy, and the capture of heavy-light price differentials, all in smaller-sized plants than conventional technologies."
This test run was carried out pursuant to a technology development agreement entered into in August 2000 between predecessors of Ivanhoe Energy and ConocoPhillips Canada Resources Corp. (ConocoPhillips Canada). ConocoPhillips Canada provided Ivanhoe Energy with the Athabasca bitumen. ConocoPhillips Canada has certain non-exclusive, capacity and time-specific rights to use the HTL technology in Canada.
The test run was witnessed by a third party engineering firm in preparation for the formalization of key investment banking relationships for Ivanhoe Energy.
The bitumen trial was a continuous multi-day run, and was successfully concluded when the feed tank was emptied. The trial demonstrated the processing of Athabasca bitumen in a continuum of HTL operating modes, ranging between the High Yield and High Quality configurations. This operational flexibility allows Ivanhoe Energy to match a commercial HTL facility to specific heavy oil field requirements. Ivanhoe Energy will use the information derived from the test for the design and development of full-scale commercial projects in Western Canada.
Dr. Robert Graham, Ivanhoe Energy's Chief Technology Officer said, "We are very pleased with the operational results of this trial. We had a flawless, continuous run, applying multiple HTL operating configurations, and all of our goals were achieved. We will now proceed with detailed product and data analysis, in accordance with our protocols with ConocoPhillips Canada."
Product samples generated using Ivanhoe Energy's recently installed Reaction Mixed Sampling (RMS) process have been sent to an independent lab for analysis. Information related to product characteristics will be released in due course as appropriate and as allowed under confidentiality agreements, together with other disclosable product information resulting from additional recent tests at the CDF.
This Athabasca test run is the first run carried out at the CDF that has focused on crude testing for HTL commercial project development purposes in Western Canada. Ivanhoe Energy is engaged in key commercial discussions with resource owners in Western Canada and this run is an important step in advancing those discussions.
Ivanhoe Energy's proprietary, patented heavy oil upgrading technology (HTL(TM)) produces lighter, more valuable crude oil from heavy oil and bitumen at lower costs and in smaller-sized plants than conventional technologies. The process also produces by-product energy that can be used to generate steam or electricity.