Press Release October 24, 2006

Representatives from the Global Petroleum Research Institute (GPRI) of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station, the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering at Texas A&M University and The Texas A&M University System Office of Technology Commercialization signed an agreement Monday (Oct. 23) to commercialize a desalination process technology with GeoPure Water Technologies LLC.

Signing the agreement are (from left) Dr. Theresa A. Maldonado, associate vice chancellor for engineering, associate dean of engineering, research and deputy director, Texas Engineering Experiment Station; David Crowe, President of GeoPure; David Burnett, GPRI director of technology; and Dr. Stephen A. Holditch, P.E., Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering department head and Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Endowed Chair in Petroleum.

GeoPure has licensed the technology developed by the A&M System researchers to provide quality drinking water from brine produced during petroleum drilling, stimulation and production operations. A joint venture between industry, the federal government and a team of researchers from GPRI, the Texas Water Resources Institute, the Harold Vance Department of Petroleum Engineering and the Institute for Food Science and Engineering at Texas A&M developed the technology.

GeoPure will offer the GPRI DesignTM Desalination Technology to the petroleum industry for the effective resource management of produced water in oil and gas operations. This technology addresses several critical needs in the search for new freshwater resources and helps to address environmental concerns on waste management at the well site, a key focus for the energy industry.

(Story from Aggie Engineering Weekly)