White Swan Environmental Ltd. (“WSE”) is a startup waste treatment company focusing on the processing and disposal of waste fluids and solids from Canada’s oil sands sector. In addition to the processing of waste fluids and solids, WSE will also process off-spec crude oil which does not meet pipeline specifications. WSE’s processes will recover crude oil from these waste and off-spec streams and sell the recovered clean crude oil.
WSE has acquired and commenced the permitting and pre-construction work on two locations which are located in the heart of Canada’s oil sands development area.
Waste fluids, solids and off-spec oil are unavoidable byproducts of every oil sands operation.
- Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (“SAGD”) operations use water to create steam which is pumped into the ground to heat oil which is pumped to surface. The water returned to surface with the oil is separated and recycled back into steam to the extent possible but this process also creates contaminated water that needs to be disposed of (evaporator effluent).
- A small amount of off-spec oil is generally produced within normal production with greater quantities created when plant operations do not run properly, there are plant turn-arounds, etc.
- Contaminated solids are created when drilling operations are conducted (mud disposal), spills occur, or tanks and vessels are cleaned of sediment.All oilfield waste streams are required by law to be transferred to a licensed waste management facility for treatment and disposal or treated and disposed of on the producers site. Very few producers manage their own waste. This creates a relatively recession proof business opportunity that is mandated by regulations and does not fluctuate as greatly as the overall energy sector.
Summary
- WSE is poised to become the premier waste management company in the oil sands.
- WSE’s strategic locations provide the competitive advantage to make WSE the low cost and therefore preferred waste management facility for the oil sands.
- WSE will provide competitive rates and still be cheaper for the customer than their alternatives due to mitigated trucking costs.
- Conklin waste management license is pending – approval is conditioned only upon re-submission and posting a further security deposit (~$3 million).
- The infrastructure costs in the region and environmental and first nations consultation requirements create long development timelines and barriers to entry for new entrants. Our Conklin location is fully serviced by existing infrastructure and is expected to be ready for operation in September
- The geology and geography of our Atmore facility creates a unique opportunity for a cavern based waste management and disposal facility
- WSE is a unique opportunity to invest in the oil sands area without taking commodity price risk
- WSE intends to follow a distribution model and pay dividends to shareholders
