Profire Energy Provides Update on New Chemical Management Division
Profire's Chemical Division Installs First Chemical Management Systems in Alberta, Canada
LINDON, Utah, Feb. 11, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Profire Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:PFIE), a technology company, which creates, installs and services oilfield burner- and chemical-management solutions in the oil and gas industry, today announced that six oil and gas companies—including some major producers—have purchased the Company's new chemical management systems (CMS), on a test-basis.
The purchases will allow for an on-site evaluation of the technology's potential to improve operational efficiency (e.g. reducing chemical costs) and enhance pipeline compliance. The systems have been (or are planned to be) installed by the Company's chemical division in the Chauvin and Sylvan Lake areas in Alberta, Canada, with additional systems planned to be installed this week in the Midwest area of the US. The Company had a pre-existing relationship with the six customers.
"With the current economic instability in the industry, oil and gas companies are looking for ways to cut costs and extract margin from existing wells," said Harold Albert, Profire COO. "Profire's CMS provides customers a unique solution that we believe can reduce operational expenses and enhance pipeline-audit compliance. Although the recent launch of our chemical division has coincided with an industry-wide decline, we believe that the economic purchase incentives of our chemical- and burner-management systems can help us maintain relatively strong performance in this turbulent environment. We believe the installation of these systems will help demonstrate the validity of this patent-pending technology throughout North America, as producers realize economic, safety, and compliance advantages from using our solutions."
What is Chemical Injection?
In the oil and gas industry, chemical injection is used for a variety of purposes, including down-hole inhibition of wax, hydrates, and corrosion agents to stimulate product flow more efficiently to the wellhead. Once at the wellhead, chemical injection can be used to further process the oil or gas before it is transported. Chemical injection at the wellhead can also be used to protect pipelines from corrosion, which reduces pipeline failure and oil spills.
Profire's CMS monitor and manage chemical-injection during these processes. The patent-pending technology is designed to allow producers to retrofit any existing pump with an advanced management system, providing pump monitoring and management to help ensure efficient chemical injection at each well. These operational efficiencies have been demonstrated on a small scale through VIM Injection Management (now Profire's chemical division), and can now be tested by Profire's own customers. The market potential for CMS is estimated at up to 1 million applications in North America.
"Inaccurate injection levels are problematic due to the cost of chemicals which, when over-injected, result in a decline in profit margin for producers," said Shawn French, Profire's chemical division president. "However, under-injection can be an even larger issue. Under injection can cause problems in the well bore and pipeline impeding the ability to get the product to market. To help ensure pipeline integrity, oil and natural gas production often require chemical treatment. CMS is designed to accurately determine how much chemical is needed to reach optimal production levels, while also helping create a greener working environment in the oilfields."
In addition to improving efficiency of the pump, production of the well, and helping the oil and gas industry become more environmentally friendly, these systems are designed to improve safety for workers that would otherwise be exposed to these chemicals and increase compliance with the requirements of pipeline operators. Our chemical management products are part of our cutting-edge suite of solutions that we believe is making the oilfield more efficient, safer, and more compliant.
Profire's chemical division was launched in November 2014 when the Company acquired VIM Injection Management.
About Profire Energy, Inc.
Profire Energy assists energy production companies in the safe and efficient production and transportation of oil and natural gas. As energy companies seek greater safety for their employees, compliance with more stringent regulatory standards, and enhanced margins with their energy production processes, Profire Energy's burner management and chemical injection systems are increasingly becoming part of their solution. Profire Energy has offices in Lindon, Utah; Houston, Texas; Victoria, Texas; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Tioga, Pennsylvania; Greeley, Colorado and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. To learn more about Profire Energy, visit www.ProfireEnergy.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements. Statements made in this release that are not historical are forward-looking statements. This release contains forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our belief that the economic purchase incentives of CMS—along with our burner management systems—will help the Company maintain relatively strong performance in a turbulent economic environment; the potential of chemical injection to reduce chemical costs; the potential of chemical injection to stimulate product flow more efficiently to the wellhead; the potential of chemical injection at the wellhead to protect pipelines from corrosion, reduce pipeline failure and reduce oil spills; producers retrofitting existing pumps with chemical injection systems which provide pump monitoring thus ensuring efficient chemical injection at each well; under-injection causing problems in the well bore and pipeline and thus impeding the ability to get the product to market; the chemical injection management system accurately determining how much chemical is needed to reach optimal production levels; the Company's products improving safety for workers, increasing compliance with the requirements of pipeline operators and making the oilfield more efficient; the Company's anticipation that the market potential for CMS is estimated at up to 1 million applications in North America; the Company's intention of installing CMS in specific regions, including internationally, in the near or distant future; and the Company's expectation that it will prove the validity of its CMS technology in the oil and gas industry. All such forward-looking statements are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results or performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from the events or results described in, or anticipated by, the forward-looking statements. Factors that could materially affect such forward-looking statements include certain economic, business, public market and regulatory risks and factors identified in the company's periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this release and the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances, except as required by law. Readers should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.
CONTACT: Profire Energy, Inc.
Andrew Limpert, CFO
(801) 796-5127
Profire Energy, Inc.
Nathan McBride, VP of Strategy & Finance
(801) 796-5127
Liolios Group, Inc.
Ron Both, Senior Managing Director
(949) 574-3860
PFIE@liolios.com
Released February 11, 2015