OriginOil Strengthens Focus on Frack Water Cleanup; Launches Licensing Group to Accelerate Commercialization in Secondary Markets
New group headed by licensing veteran is dedicated to driving business opportunities and partnerships outside oil and gas industry, including building water management, aquaculture and biofuels
Los Angeles, CA – February 13, 2013 –OriginOil, Inc. (OTC/BB: OOIL), the developer of a breakthrough energy production and water decontamination process for the oil and algae industries, announced today it has launched a separate licensing group to address the growing number of potential commercial applications for its Solids out of Solution™ technology outside the oil and gas industry. By licensing these secondary market opportunities, the company intends to sharpen its focus on the commercial deployment of its frack water cleanup system, CLEAN-FRAC™, for oil and gas production.
“We are achieving substantial traction among algae producers looking to partner and commercialize OriginOil’s algae harvesting technology. At the same time, we are rapidly identifying new applications like aquaculture,” said Riggs Eckelberry, OriginOil CEO. “We are extremely motivated by these opportunities but also cautious of diluting our commercial efforts within the oil and gas sector. Cleaning up frack and produced water is proving to be the largest, most compelling market opportunity.”
“This new licensing group could allow the core team to devote more energy and resources to targeting this high growth industry,” added Eckelberry.
Alex Leshnick, currently OriginOil’s Director of Operations, will head the new Licensing Group as its General Manager, with Profit and Loss (P & L) responsibility.
A registered patent agent, Leshnick is a seasoned veteran with arobust track record of successfully licensing technologies to both young companies and established corporations worldwide. In his previous position at the University of Southern California, Leshnick managed a portfolio of more than 150 technologies consisting of several hundred patents and patent applications.
“Alex has successfully prosecuted the company’s patent portfolio for the past two years, and understands the market opportunities for OriginOil’s solids extraction technology and its revenue potential,” added Eckelberry. “We are confident that he will handle these added responsibilities with his usual speed and competence.”