OriginOil has announced that in recent independent third-party testing OriginOil's algae harvesting process was able to remove 98% of hydrocarbons from a sample of West Texas oil well 'frac flowback' water in the first stage alone.

The results point to a potentially valuable application of the company's core water processing technology, originally invented for algae harvesting.

Frac flowback describes water used in a drilling process called 'hydraulic fracturing', or 'fracking'. This test sample was taken from an oil well from which 200,000 gallons of oil-rich water flowed back over a period of two weeks. The water resources firm PACE Engineering supplied the sample

"The test results surpassed what we expected of OriginOil when we sent them the sample," said Andrew Komor , vice president for environmental water at PACE Engineering.

"The first pass results showed not 70-75% removal of hydrocarbons as is typical of current technology, but 98%. We realized then that this could be a game-changer for the oil and gas industry."

Riggs Eckelberry, CEO of OriginOil, commented, "Oil well water cleanup is a multi-stage process. We work at the first stage to 'break the emulsion' and quickly remove nearly all of the petroleum without chemicals. We could contribute to the economical re-use of oil well water, a win for the industry and the environment."

"We intend to aggressively explore oil and gas licensing opportunities while staying the course in algae harvesting," added Mr. Eckelberry.

Water is produced and used in large quantities in oil and gas operations. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, an average of 3 barrels of contaminated water is generated for each 1 barrel of oil produced. In the United States, the average is 7 barrels of water.

Greentech Media reports that energy companies pay between $3 - $12 to dispose of each barrel of produced water, implying a potential world market value between $300 billion and $1 trillion per year.