Ecolab: Helping Ensure Energy is Available Everywhere

Whether the need is to maximize energy production or minimize use, Ecolab provides solutions that address both supply and demand. From the oil and gas industry to hospitality, our people are using their expertise and our innovative technologies to help a variety of industries operate more efficiently.

As economic growth raises living standards in developing regions, world energy demand also increases. While alternative and renewable energy play an essential role moving forward, traditional energy sources continue to be important to future energy production. The energy production industry is addressing growing global demand in more sustainable ways, and our energy services customers are demanding sustainable process solutions that allow them to safely maximize oil and gas production. We’re working closely with them, providing solutions designed to energize the world.

Producing More, Using Less

Nalco, which merged with Ecolab in December 2011, has been serving the oil and gas industry for nearly 90 years. Today we are helping customers produce more, while operating in more extreme conditions. Technology now allows drilling for oil and gas in ultra-deep waters, thousands of feet deeper than was possible just a few years ago.

Our solutions help customers manage environmental risks and improve their operations. The result is safer operations, improved product quality, reduced water and energy use, less waste, enhanced equipment protection, decreased costs and compliance with regulations.

Water is an inevitable byproduct of oil production. An average of three barrels of water is produced from a well for each barrel of oil. To maximize production and clean the water produced with the oil, emulsions that bind oil and water need to be broken. Our BREAXIT® technology effectively breaks the emulsions using chemistries that meet or exceed the environmental regulations our customers must follow.

Sharing Our Expertise

For decades the energy industry has looked to Nalco for technical expertise, on-site experience and an expansive range of treatment solutions. Working with our customers, we have improved heating and cooling systems’ operating efficiency and reduced energy use and demand.

Our experienced professionals and technologies increase energy production while protecting the people who operate wells, production facilities, pipelines, refineries and petrochemical plants.

Increasing Energy Supply

It’s not uncommon for oil reservoirs to produce less than one third of the original oil they contain. Our project engineers and field technicians have extensive experience in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) gained from working with diverse reservoirs worldwide. Our EOR programs reduce the need for drilling additional wells and extend the life of current oil reserves, producing millions of barrels of additional oil.

In offshore production, the formation of hydrates — chemical compounds containing water — can reduce or block flow, causing multimillion dollar losses. Our low-dose hydrate inhibitors offer dramatic advantages over traditional treatments, lowering operating costs, increasing employee safety and extending well life while substantially reducing chemical use and storage.

Finally, our eVerified™ process is designed to develop chemistries for oilfield use with lower risk profiles. To meet both customer and regulatory requirements, this scorecard enables research and marketing teams to evaluate products early in development and better identify and minimize human and environmental risks. Through our industry-leading solutions, we’re aggressively addressing energy supply challenges that affect us all.

Details of the positive impact Ecolab makes through our customers and in our own operations can be found in our 2011 Sustainability Report.

* http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/04/new-solutionsfor-oils-produced-water