Cnergreen – a Calgary-based startup manufacturing stable foams for CO2 injection in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) – announced it raised a $2 million seed funding round led by Rhapsody Venture Partners. This US-based venture capital firm specializes in hard-tech investments.
Cnergreen’s patent-pending ArmorFoam technology, which was developed at the University of Calgary, enables underground foams to remain stable for months at high pressures, temperatures, and salinities. And the first application is improving CO2 enhanced oil recovery (CO2 EOR) in the oil and gas industry. For years, oilfield operators saw an opportunity to use CO2 injection as a way to enhance oil recovery in active wells, while also permanently sequestering CO2 in geologic reservoirs. Due to the large volumes of CO2 required, CO2-EOR provides a near-term pathway for scaled carbon sequestration, while lowering the carbon footprint of produced oil.
The effectiveness of CO2 EOR has been limited to date in many projects as injected gas often channels through fractures and highly permeable zones and results in early gas production and inefficient sweep. And with ArmorFoam, these channels are blocked, forcing CO2 to permeate all available space in reservoirs. Moreover, ArmorFoam’s stability makes each well treatment effective for longer, presenting a low-cost solution to operators looking to enhance their sweep efficiency.
Cnergreen has scaled its manufacturing capabilities and it is currently conducting field testing in connection with an existing CO2 project. And they are currently scheduling field trials with additional operators in the US and Canada in the first half of 2024.
KEY QUOTES:
“Rhapsody’s support of Cnergreen’s technology shows that we have developed an economically viable solution for CO2-EOR. Their funding will enable us to fast-track field trials and commercialization.”
— Cnergreen’s CEO Ali Telmadarreie
“In the short-term, Cnergreen solves a pressing need for the oil and gas industry while reducing their overall carbon footprint. Beyond that, Cnergreen is a platform technology that can deliver large-scale permanent CO2 sequestration underground. We are excited to join the team in the next phase of their commercial development.”
— Jason Whaley, General Partner at Rhapsody Venture Partners
