Epic Oil and Gas Ltd EAS
Shares issued 18,731,706 2000-09-06 close $0.13
Friday Sep 8 2000 News Release
Mr. Michael Hopley reports
On Aug. 30, Rival Resources, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Epic Oil and Gas, submitted a revised application to the United States Department of Energy (DOE) for a $1,092,945 (U.S.) grant to be used for the development of new technology to inject carbon dioxide into coal seams of the Bellingham basin of northwest Washington state.
Last January, Rival submitted its first application to the DOE for this same grant. However, in July the company was informed that its application had not been chosen for an award. In declining the application, the DOE gave a summary of the strengths and weaknesses of Rival's submittal and noted that the company could resubmit its application by an Aug. 31 deadline (see Epic's news release as reported in Stockwatch Aug. 3, 2000).
This latest application by Rival has been considerably modified to address the weaknesses noted by the DOE in the first application.
Rival's grant application is based on the fact that the Bellingham basin is underlaid by coal beds, which have the potential to host commercial quantities of coal bed methane, a pure form of natural gas. When carbon dioxide is injected into coal seams it will often adhere and chemically bond to the coal and enhance the release of methane gas from the coal. This burying of carbon dioxide is known as CO2 sequestration.
If successful, the DOE grant would be used to develop methods that would both reduce carbon dioxide gas emissions from nearby industrial plants and potentially increase the production of natural gas. The development of this technology would also help prepare the United States in meeting the standards of the Kyoto clean air accord.
If Rival were selected, Epic would be responsible for financing 20 per cent of the costs of the test work.
Significant natural gas production existed in the Bellingham basin, up until the 1930s, Epic and its partners have drilled five test wells in the area over the past several years in the search for natural gas, coal bed methane and underground natural gas storage sites. The most recent results have shown considerable encouragement, in particular, for the presence of natural gas. Due to this and the recent dramatic rise in natural gas prices, the company is planning to further the exploration of several shallow natural gas prospects in the Bellingham basin by itself or with a joint venture partner. |
