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US Oil Sands Inc., a company focused on oil sands exploration and production in Utah, has announced approval of its U.S. patent application and the filing of its 2013 independent resource evaluation report.
Cameron Todd, CEO of US Oil Sands said: "The successful approval of our U.S. patent application marks another important step towards reinforcing our Company's environmental and cost-effective technological advantages in the oil sands mining space.
We believe our bio-solvent based approach to oil sands extraction is a true game changer for the industry, as it has the dual-benefit of reducing the environmental footprint of an oil sands project and lowering capital expenditures by as much as 75% when compared to existing oil sands mining projects."
Approval of United States Patent Application
US Oil Sands has received notification from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) that allows the Company's U.S. patent application relating to its bitumen extraction process. The Company will be formally issued the patent after the Company finalizes issuance procedures with the USPTO.
The Company has previously been granted a patent by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office in 2012 and has completed the international filing of a patent application through World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in October 2007.
The approval of the U.S. patent application and the granting of a Canadian patent provides a key, strategic advantage for the Company, as no commercial oil sands mining process has yet been implemented that can operate with the overall reduced environmental footprint that US Oil Sands' process provides. In addition, the Company believes its low capital cost allows the Company's extraction process to be economically deployed to a broad range of smaller deposits, previously deemed out of reach for oil sands mining operations using traditional extraction processes.
US Oil Sands' 32,005 acres of bitumen leases in Utah's Uinta Basin make it the largest bitumen lease-holder of State lands in the U.S., and the Company's permitted PR Spring Project is expected to be the first commercial bitumen extraction project in the U.S. US Oil Sands' extraction process is effective on both oil-wet deposits such as those found in the US and internationally, and water-wet deposits such as those found in Canada's Athabasca region. Traditional extraction processes, developed decades ago, are effective on the water-wet oil sands found in Canada, however, they remain economically and environmentally ineffective at extracting bitumen from oil-wet deposits that are found in other parts of the world. Following commercial production of Phase 1 of the PR Spring Project, expected in 2015, the Company intends to expand deployment of its proprietary process outside the State of Utah.
Resource Evaluation Report
The Company engaged Calgary-based Sproule Unconventional Limited to complete an independent resource evaluation report dated February 28, 2014 in compliance with National Instrument 51-101 - Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities. The Sproule Report details the bitumen resource assessment of the Company's PR Spring property in Utah, as of February 28, 2014, and incorporates the results of the 184 wells drilled and cored on the Company's PR Spring development block in 2011 and 2012. Sproule's independent best estimate of discovered resource is 184.3 million barrels and remains unchanged from the prior year.
US Oil Sands' PR Spring property lies within the State of Utah's PR Spring Special Tar Sand Area and consists of four leases that encompass 5,930 acres. The Company also holds leases on an additional 26,075 acres that have not been explored and therefore not evaluated in the Sproule Report. US Oil Sands currently holds 100% working interest in its Utah-based assets.