Ivanhoe Energy Receives Additional Patent Protection for its Proprietary Heavy Oil Upgrading Technology
Thursday January 25, 8:19 am ET
VANCOUVER, Jan. 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Ivanhoe Energy Inc. (NASDAQ: IVAN and TSX: IE) has received a Notice of Allowance from the U.S. Patent Office for the first of a family of additional petroleum upgrading patent applications. Since Ivanhoe Energy acquired the patented heavy oil upgrading technology (HTL) in 2005 through its merger with Ensyn Group, Inc., it has been working to expand patent coverage to protect innovations to the HTL technology as they are developed. This allowance is the first that has been granted directly to Ivanhoe Energy, and significantly broadens the company's portfolio of HTL intellectual property.
"This is a significant step for us in the development of Ivanhoe Energy's HTL technology," said Joe Gasca, Ivanhoe Energy President and COO. "This further strengthens the patent protection of the HTL technology for petroleum upgrading and opens up additional HTL patenting opportunities for Ivanhoe Energy. Not only will this be the first patent issued directly in Ivanhoe Energy's name, it also has the effect of significantly extending our HTL patent protection." All of the original HTL-related patents were issued in Ensyn's name, with exclusive rights to the patented petroleum applications granted to Ivanhoe Energy.
Counterparts to this family of U.S. patent applications have been filed and are pending in many other petroleum producing countries, including Canada and a number of countries in South America, the Middle East and Asia.
Dr. Robert Graham, Ivanhoe Energy Director and Ensyn Group co-founder said, "The allowance of this patent protection in the U.S. confirms that the HTL intellectual property is unique, inventive and proprietary. This strengthens our belief and confidence that a similar level of additional patent protection should be received in the other countries in which we have filed applications."
Ivanhoe Energy's proprietary, patented heavy oil upgrading technology (HTL) upgrades the quality of heavy oil and bitumen by producing lighter, more valuable crude oil, along with by-product energy that can be used to generate steam or electricity. In the process of targeting specific commercial applications, Ivanhoe Energy has developed what are believed to be patentable innovations, and expects that new innovations, improvements and optimizations will be continually integrated into the HTL process and protected as the HTL technology progresses.
The new patent protection will address the production of a light vacuum gas oil (VGO) product from whole and fractionated bitumen feedstocks, using Ivanhoe Energy's HTL technology. Bitumen, also called asphalt or tar, is the heaviest category of petroleum and occurs in solid and semi-solid forms and includes both naturally occurring petroleum, such as the bitumen found in the Alberta oil sands, as well as manufactured bitumens, such as vacuum tower bottoms (VTBs), which are produced from lighter oils by fractional distillation.
Ivanhoe Energy is an independent international oil and gas development and production company focused on pursuing long-term growth in its reserves and production using advanced technologies, including its proprietary heavy oil upgrading process (HTL), enhanced oil recovery (EOR) techniques and the conversion of natural gas to liquids (GTL). Core operations are in the United States and China, with business development opportunities worldwide. Ivanhoe Energy trades on the NASDAQ Capital Market with the ticker symbol IVAN and on the Toronto Stock Exchange with the symbol IE.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document includes forward-looking statements, including forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements concerning the potential benefits of Ivanhoe Energy's heavy oil upgrading technology, the potential for commercialization and future application of the heavy oil upgrading technology, the potential that this patent will issue in countries other than the United States and that additional patents will issue in the United States and other statements which are not historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as "could," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "potential," "should," and similar expressions relating to matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements. Although Ivanhoe Energy believes that its expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements include the potential that future patent applications may not be approved as submitted or at all, the HTL process to upgrade bitumen and heavy oil may not be commercially viable, competition and other risks disclosed in Ivanhoe Energy's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR and the Canadian Securities Commissions on SEDAR.
CONTACT: Cindy Burnett, (604) 331-9830, Website: www.ivanhoeenergy.com
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Source: Ivanhoe Energy Inc.
