TomCo Energy PLC (LON:TOM) announced the Petroteq Energy oil sands plant at Asphalt Ridge in Utah is now back online.
The company’s 50% owned joint venture company Greenfield Energy has been working to improve efficiency and has optimised the project and additional equipment has been successfully installed and tested.
Earlier this month, TomCo said it would undertake the extra work to ensure the project is more robust in colder operating conditions.
The company said it is all part of the learning process for a test operation of this nature.
A knock-on effect was the FEED (Front-End Engineering and Design) study for the oil sands project will be delayed by six weeks.
The project is being advanced by the Greenfield Energy LLC joint venture company, which comprises Valkor LLC and TomCo. The pilot utilises a plant owned by Petroteq Energy and includes technology licenced from Quadrise Fuels International.
Subject to the pilot results and the FEED, Greenfield will develop a new 10,000 bopd plant – comprising two 5,000 bopd trains – utilising design improvements and knowledge gained from the POSP pilot.
A potential site for the new plant has been identified by Greenfield.