RE: Peak OilDoug,
A really good question.....my understanding is the $9 mil went to PBG to pilot THAI full scale, make results available to the industry, etc., no strings attached on rights to the technology, which I think they had locked up before they approached the gov't.....I did a little DD in the IP area a couple of months back....for what its worth, here's what I found:
"Whitesands Insitu Ltd., Petrobank’s 84 Percent owned subsidiary (now 100% since
they bought out James Richardson, which IMHO was a brilliant move), owns 39,680 acres of oil sands leases with an estimated 2.6 billion barrels of bitumen-in-place and operates the Whitesands Project which is field demonstrating Petrobank’s patented THAI™ heavy oil
recovery process. " < https://www.petrobank.com/abo-corporateprofile.html >
"THAI(TM) is an evolutionary (and as Wright recently noted, disruptive) in-situ combustion technology for the recovery of bitumen and heavy oil that integrates existing proven technologies and provides the opportunity to create a step change in the development of heavy oil resources globally. THAI(TM) and CAPRI(TM) are registered trademarks of Archon Technologies Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary of Petrobank Energy and Resources Ltd."
I believe Archon Technologies, LTD. is a legal entity PBG has set up with
in Tel Aviv to provide IP protection for both THAI and
CAPRI (and numerous other patents they are developing in this area) with all the staff
work is done by PBG salaried employees at their home office in Calgary. I think the U of Bath abstract < https://gow.epsrc.ac.uk/ViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/E059430/1 >covers funding for additional down hole process optimization research
on CAPRI with all IP rights to PBG. That is my read. None of the actual
documents are available on the web.....all attorney client confidential I would
guess."
Appreciate any others opinions in this area as so much rides on the IP. It would take a patent attorney to independently confirm all this.....and, quite frankly, I trust John Wright.
Dave