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Flotek and Solazyme to jointly commercialise drilling fluid technologies

Oilfield Technology,


Flotek Industries, Inc. and Solazyme, Inc. have announced the companies and certain subsidiaries have entered into agreements to globally commercialise Flocapso™, an innovative, advanced drilling fluid additive. In addition, Flotek will market Solazyme’s Encapso™ lubricant in certain Middle Eastern markets.

Environmentally-conscious drilling fluid additive

Under the joint product development and marketing agreement, the two companies will commercialise and market Flocapso, a proprietary formulation combining Flotek’s patented Complex nano-Fluid® chemistries with Solazyme’s proprietary Encapso technology to create an environmentally-conscious drilling fluid additive focused on better lubricity and greater stabilisation for drilling programmes worldwide. Laboratory and commercial testing indicate that the Flocapso additive will allow the use of water-based fluids in wells that previously required more expensive and invasive oil-based products, providing an environmentally superior, more efficient solution to drilling challenges around the globe.  

Commentary

“Our partnership with Solazyme is another important step in Flotek’s quest to identify and partner with innovative and efficacious technologies that advance oilfield chemistry for the benefit of our clients,” said John Chisholm, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Flotek. “Solazyme’s development of Encapso and its rapid recognition as a break-through lubricant in drilling applications is testament to Solazyme’s world-class research team. We are delighted to have an opportunity to work with the Solazyme team as we continue our focus on developing the best chemistry solutions for the oilfield.”

“We are excited to add Flotek as a strategic partner as we continue to focus on broadening the market and customer base for Encapso,” said Solazyme Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Wolfson. “As a leading, global technology company with a focus on oilfield chemistry, Flotek brings new opportunities to expand sales of Encapso in the Middle East, as well as to commercialise and jointly market Flocapso, a unique and high performance product that provides a large global sales opportunity to satisfy an unmet need through the combination of superior technologies. The new Flocapso drilling solution is designed to provide significant advantages in lubricity and stabilisation and a much cleaner environmental footprint.”  

New Middle Eastern markets

Under the joint agreement, Flotek and Solazyme will continue the development of the Flocapso chemistries and work cooperatively to market Flocapso worldwide. The companies are currently in an active validation project with a large national oil company in the Middle East and are pursuing commercial applications in both domestic and international markets.

 “Last year we acquired certain intellectual property related to the use of CnF in drilling fluid applications from Tony Rea, a drilling fluid technology pioneer, which led to discussions and chemical trials with Solazyme,” said Chisholm. “As a result of Tony’s work showing the efficacy of using CnF to improve drilling results and the combination of Solazyme’s Encapso, we developed Flocapso, a drilling fluid additive that we believe will provide significant improvements to drilling efficiency and effectiveness around the globe.”  

In addition, the companies have entered into a Strategic Alliance Agreement whereby Solazyme has granted Flotek exclusive distribution rights to sell and market Encapso as a drilling fluid lubricant in certain territories in the Middle East. In exchange, Flotek has agreed to certain minimum purchases of Encapso from Solazyme in the initial year of the Agreement.  


Adapted from press release by Cecilia Rehn

Also, read the latest article on the Encapso on-demand lubricant delivery system in the April 2015 issue of Oilfield Technology

Read the article online at: https://www.oilfieldtechnology.com/drilling-and-production/16042015/flotek-and-solazyme-to-jointly-commercialise-drilling-fluid-technologies-across-the-globe/

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