Value Creation Inc. has withdrawn its application to expand the Heartland Complex northeast of Edmonton to instead focus on leveraging its unique selective decarbonization technology (SDC) to produce decarbonized clean oils and blends at a lower cost than traditional upgrading.
The Calgary-based company with its founder and CEO Dr. Columba Yeung at the helm is well known for its innovation focus and penchant to pivot as technologies evolve. Value Creation is looking to speed up the transition of the oil sands industry to carbon neutral clean oils, leading to eventual net-zero clean power.
In the wake of climate change concerns and the importance of reducing GHG emissions, Yeung tells Calgary.tech the oil sands industry needs a disruptive transformation to survive and prosper. VCI’s new strategy with SDC will enable it to produce clean oils and blends with low GHG emissions while maximizing margin per barrel of oil processed.
A Value Creation subsidiary will play a key role in providing commercial business models for each stage of the transition. The company has already begun working with regulatory authorities to expedite the transition.
As part of its development, VCI plans to submit an application for a salt cavern development that would be integrated with the SDC operation. Doing so would enable risk-free capturing of bitumen differential volatility and could be the most cost-effective strategic reserve option.
Yeung notes that VCI’s shift in focus from a traditional plant expansion to further leveraging innovative technology demonstrates its strong commitment to sustainability and GHG emission reduction. With SDC, the company can leverage new technologies, drive change in the oil sands industry, and lead the market in producing clean and cost-effective oils and blends.
The current emphasis of the world on climate change is extremely disruptive to the oil industry world wide. It is good to see that some engineers are not blind to the social climate and finding ways to participate in this new environment.
As a retired energy professional, I encourage every active technical person in Alberta to engage in finding new ways of doing business in the oil based Alberta economy.
Three cheers to VCI for its efforts.