Solazyme, Inc. (South San Francisco, Calif.; www.solazyme.com) and Versalis, the chemical subsidiary of Eni s.p.A. (Milan, Italy; www.eni.com) have announced a partnership to expand the commercial use of Encapso, what is said to be the world’s first commercially-available, biodegradable encapsulated lubricant for drilling fluids.
“As a leading chemical company with a demonstrated commitment to green chemistry and an emerging focus on specialty oilfield products, Versalis is extremely well-positioned to advance the use of Encapso globally to provide customers with a high-performance and sustainable drilling lubricant,” said Solazyme CEO Jonathan Wolfson. “Through this partnership, we look forward to working closely with Versalis to expand into new markets to help meet the growing demand for energy while reducing impacts on our environment.”
Versalis will expand market access and drive global sales for Encapso as a high-performance and sustainable drilling fluid additive. Versalis’ initial emphasis for Encapso will be oil-and-gas fields operated by its parent company Eni, which represent a significant amount of the world’s petroleum drilling activity. Encapso will be featured as part of the company’s recently launched Specialty Oilfield Chemicals product portfolio with target sales volumes exceeding 3,000 metric tons/year (m.t./yr) of Encapso.
Solazyme launched Encapso in the Spring of 2014. With its unique, on-demand lubricant delivery system, Encapso increases rates of penetration, decreases drag and reduces both rotational torque and friction in a variety of vertical and horizontal drilling applications. This can lead to reduced drilling costs and accelerated operations. Developed from Solazyme’s technology platform, Encapso is non-hazardous and biodegradable.
Encapso’s effectiveness has been demonstrated commercially in more than 30 oil wells in basins in the U.S. and Canada, including major areas of exploration in the Williston Basin, Denver-Julesburg Basin, Permian Basin and Western Canada. Encapso’s versatility and inert shell makes it re-usable across various formulations and applications – further reducing overall customer costs.