Nalco commercializes new enhanced oil recovery technology 

Nalco has announced the commercial launch of its proprietary BrightWater Reservoir Sweep Efficiency Technology.

Nalco says early applications demonstrated crude oil production increases of 25 to 80 percent in test wells.

"Nalco has worked for nearly a decade with technically sophisticated energy companies to develop and test BrightWater technology to enhance waterflood sweep efficiency in oil reservoirs. Tests concluded to date have generated very promising results," said J. Erik Fyrwald, Nalco Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. "This patented technology has the potential to add to the world's proven reserves, increase production in otherwise declining reservoirs, and contribute meaningfully to the success of our customers without risk of environmental impacts."

Nalco's BrightWater technology is currently targeted at enhancing oil production uplift in sandstone reservoirs that account for as much as 20 per cent of the world's approximately 1.2 trillion barrels of known crude oil reserves.

Waterflood operations are one of several enhanced oil recovery strategies used by oil production companies to maximize or accelerate production of oil in place. Typically, producers are only able to capture a portion of the Original Oil In Place (OOIP) in a reservoir. In addition to accelerating oil production, using BrightWater technology in combination with Nalco's enhanced engineering expertise is expected to provide access to an additional two to 10 per cent of OOIP in applicable fields, potentially adding to proven reserves. Proven reserves are the portion of OOIP that producers are reasonably certain can be extracted.

"While we would like to believe that our expertise and technology will always deliver returns at the high test rates we have seen to date, the characteristics of each reservoir may not always allow this exceptional performance. Still, providing even a two per cent increase in production of OOIP while also accelerating oil capture would bring substantial economic gains to our customers," said Steve Taylor, Group Vice President and President, Energy Services.

If additional trials being completed this year are successful, Nalco believes its enhanced oil recovery (EOR) platform, which includes recently acquired Tiorco, could contribute meaningfully to Energy Services growth over the next decade. BrightWater technology sales in 2008 are expected to exceed $5 million in initial commercialization stage, with sales in 2009 expected to more than double this amount, Taylor said while noting that his projection assumes that crude oil prices continue to make EOR efforts attractive. Drilling additional wells is the primary potential alternative to BrightWater technology in the late waterflood stage of field development. However, Nalco's BrightWater offering has significant ease-of-use and capital investment advantages over drilling efforts and other tertiary recovery methods.

"The marketplace for our offering is sizable, and the value we can deliver through additional oil generation at existing fields should make a positive contribution to our customers and the global economy in general," Taylor noted. "I would caution, however, that new EOR technologies can take a substantial amount of time to be fully adopted, often taking two to three decades to reach full market penetration. Because of this, we are targeting 20 per cent penetration by 2016."

For more information about BrightWater technology go to www.nalco.com/BrightWater .