OriginOil Opens Houston Satellite Office to Better Serve Oil and Gas Industry
Dow Chemical Veteran Bill Charneski to Head OriginOil’s Petro Business Unit
Los Angeles and Houston– February 11, 2014 – OriginOil Inc. (OTC/BB: OOIL), developer of Electro Water Separation™ (EWS), the high-speed, chemical-free process to clean up large quantities of water, today announced plans to open a satellite office in the Houston, Texas “Energy Corridor”.
Veteran Dow Chemical manager Bill Charneski has been named general manager of the company’s Petro unit and will divide his time between the Los Angeles headquarters and the new office.
“Companies focused on penetrating the oil and gas industry must have a Houston base,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “Bill Charneski has done a standout job of developing our oil and gas water cleanup business, making him the natural choice to head our new Petro business unit as its general manager, with the intention of developing a wholly-owned subsidiary with Bill as its President.”
“I am very pleased that OriginOil will now have a Houston base in the heart of the energy business,” said Dr. R. Gerald Bailey, OriginOil’s Industry Advisor and formerly President of Exxon for the Arabian Gulf, Abu Dhabi, and UAE. “I predict enhanced deal flow from the move, which I will be able to materially assist from my own Houston location.”
“This is an excellent move,” said Andy Komor, VP of Environmental Water for PACE, OriginOil’s first oil and gas licensee. “While there’s plenty going on in California, Texas remains the industry’s power center and OriginOil will do well there.”
PACE subsidiary PEARL H2O is currently building its first demonstration-scale petroleum water cleanup system, powered by OriginOil’s EWS as the first separation stage. A public launch of this system is planned for the current quarter at a working site in California’s Monterey Formation.
Mr. Charneski is a key player in OriginOil’s oil and gas initiative: his discussions with PACE in May of 2012 led to the discovery that Electro Water Separation technology could have application in the treatment of frac flowback and produced water. Since then, Bill has been responsible for the appointment of licensees such as PEARL H2O and Industrial Systems, Inc. and is currently focusing on building a network of EWS Petro licensees around the world.
