Mar 26 2013
LiqTech International, Inc. a clean technology company that manufactures and markets highly specialized filtration technologies, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with a global leader in oilfield equipment and services, FMC Technologies, Inc., for the use of its state-of-the-art disruptive silicon carbide membrane technology for oil/gas applications.
The exclusive agreement will bring LiqTech International's silicon carbide membrane technology into the highly attractive unconventional shale oil/gas sector and will allow for the development of new water treatment systems. The agreement includes a multi-year, multi-million dollar commitment towards LiqTech technology in order for FMC Technologies to maintain exclusivity.
The use of horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technology is one of the most significant advancements in hydrocarbon recovery in decades, driving a resurgence of onshore oil and gas activity in North America. The hydraulic fracturing process involves injecting large amounts of water and sand into a well to increase the cracks in dense formations, thereby enhancing flow characteristics. Following the process, a significant amount of water returns to the surface and must be treated or injected into deep underground disposal wells. LiqTech's silicon carbide membrane, and its greatly enhanced filtration capabilities, is a potential enabling technology for the treatment and reuse of this produced water.
Lasse Andreassen , LiqTech's CEO, stated, "This agreement is a major breakthrough for LiqTech and is the validation of our technology that we have been working on for the last six years. We have more than one hundred customers that use our membranes, but FMC Technologies will bring LiqTech a very important platform in the attractive unconventional shale oil/gas area. We have granted FMC Technologies exclusive use of our membranes in the unconventional shale oil/gas industry, because of its commitment to our technology and the resources it commits to bringing our membranes into systems that we believe will grow our business significantly."
"FMC Technologies has studied and tested LiqTech's Silicon Carbide Membrane Technology and found it well suited for the further development of our product and service offerings in unconventional shale oil/gas," said Johan Pfeiffer , FMC Technologies' Vice President, Surface Technologies. "We chose LiqTech as our partner because its product has great promise and its organization can meet the high quality standards that FMC Technologies requires. We look forward to developing new products together and see great prospects in this partnership."
LiqTech's Chairman, Aldo Petersen , concluded, "This agreement is a great accomplishment for LiqTech and our talented staff and will strengthen our business potential in the very important unconventional shale oil/gas area. We intend to discuss the impact of these agreements on our conference call scheduled for Wednesday, March 27th."