Chevron is opening the door for wider use of a technology it developed to help oil producers extract more crude from existing wells.
The company announced on July 8 that its research arm, Chevron Technical Center, has signed a licensing agreement with ZL Chemicals Limited, allowing the company to market Chevron’s proprietary oil recovery technology under the Vantis™ brand.
The technology uses specialized chemicals to improve oil recovery from shale and other tight rock formations, where extracting additional crude can become increasingly difficult as wells mature. Chevron said the agreement will allow the technology to be deployed more broadly across the industry while it continues developing new versions for its own operations.
Chevron says new technology revolutionizes offshore development | OilNOW
Ryder Booth, Chevron’s Chief Technology and Engineering Officer, said expanding access to the technology was the next logical step.
“Technology creates more value when it can be applied broadly. Advanced chemicals are one of Chevron’s areas of differentiation and have supported innovation in our own operations. Through this licensing agreement, we’re creating a pathway for ZL to bring this technology to a broader market, and at scale,” he said.
Technology may be a game changer for future oil supply – WoodMac | OilNOW
Under the agreement, ZL Chemicals will provide products and field services using the licensed technology. According to the company’s President, Echo Liu, oil operators are already looking for technologies that can extend the productive life of their assets.
“Vantis™ represents the type of technology our customers are seeking, and we are positioned to deliver it as a scalable, turnkey service — from lab evaluation and QA/QC [Quality Assurance/ Quality Control] through application design, on-site deployment, and field execution,” she said.
Chevron said the agreement allows it to continue focusing on developing new oil recovery technologies while ZL takes the lead on commercializing the current platform for customers worldwide.
