[dinopello]

I have a friend who is thinking of investing in a startup that is patenting a reagent that's supposed to be super good (my term, whatever that means). I'm interested on people's thoughts and wisdom on the technical subject of reagents (what do they do for you, how they are deployed, how much benefit they offer, how much environmental risk is here in current products) and also any knowledge of who makes the reagents in use now for EOR (is it chemical companies) .

[Schmuto]

Couple thoughts:

1. "Reagent" can mean any one of millions of compounds.
2. Patents are applied for - they are only granted if the government says so, via the department of commerce, via the patent office. Point is, it's either patented or it's not, and if it's not, then the best that can be said is that they're filing or have filed an application and are hoping to be granted a patent.

3. Start ups are tough to assess, even with a box full of information.

[lper100km]

Check it out very, very carefully. Don’t just rely on company bulletins. Google is your friend at times like this. ‘Reagents’ to aid oil extraction, especially the tar sands, have been around for at least 3 or 4 decades and mostly introduced by startups. Where are they now? Think about the odds of a small underfunded company or individual coming across a world beater treatment for oil extraction against the resources of the hugely funded majors. Beware of buying the sizzle and not the steak.

[dinopello]

I agree with the cautions on investing!

[Oerdin]

Without knowing about the process I cannot evaluate its technical merit.

[TheDude]

You could snoop around RIGZONE's O&G Directory. 162 listings under "chemicals."

I notice this from freepatentsonline, too: Reagent and process for recovering oil and kerogens from oil shale ... From 1984.