UNITED NATIONS AND KUWAIT OIL COMPANY ... - Stockhouse

UNITED NATIONS AND KUWAIT OIL COMPANY PREPARE TO REMEDIATE OIL LAKES Canadian Oil Recovery & Remediation Enterprises Ltd. (TSX-V: CVR) (“CORRE”) is one of the select few companies preparing to tackle the largest hydrocarbon contamination crisis on earth. During the height of the 1991 Gulf War, over 114 square kilometres of Kuwait's desert was damaged when retreating Iraqi troops destroyed the country’s oil facilities and set fire to 798 oil wells, creating hundreds of Oil Lakes. Today, the pace of the clean-up is anticipated to significantly increase, beginning with the issuance of USD $3.5 billion earmarked by the United Nations for the remediation of the affected areas. The cleanup is to be a joint effort between the Kuwait Oil Company (“KOC”) and the United Nations. In the coming months, KOC is expected to begin tendering hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts that will continue to be issued thereafter on a yearly basis. Experts have suggested that the total process will take over 25 years, and that the initial USD $3.5 billion will be a small fraction of the total clean-up cost. "The Oil Lakes that were formed range from a few centimetres to several metres in depth and represent over 60 million barrels of crude. In total, 660 million barrels of crude oil were released to the environment resulting in 40 million tons of contaminated soil. No other petroleum release in history came close to equalling the magnitude of this event," said Redha al Hasan of the Kuwait National Focal Point, a committee established to supervise the execution of environmental projects in the emirate.

The Kuwait Oil Lakes formed after the largest petroleum release in history. Clean-up will exceed USD $3.5 billion.

CORRE’s MENA operating partnership is well positioned in the race for oil lake remediation projects, and is currently one of only 17 pre-qualified companies eligible to bid for the clean-up work. Prequalification is a demanding, investigative process between international companies and KOC; a success that few companies around the world have achieved. Pre-qualification proves that CORRE’s MENA operating partnership has the financial and operational capacity to successfully execute on large scale contracts. During the multi-year process with KOC, companies are expected to provide five years of historical financial records and up to ten years of technological performance. Pre-qualification with KOC is widely regarded as the strongest indication of competency and professionalism throughout the Middle East and Africa, proving to other potential clients that a pre-qualified company like CORRE is indeed one of the world’s premiere environmental remediators.

CORRE’s state-of-the-art soil washing equipment, which is expected to make it a frontrunner in the pursuit of future contracts, was constructed in Canada and optimized for desert operations during an 18-month pilot project with the National Cleaning Company of Kuwait. Furthermore, the company’s soil washing technologies have several strong advantages over competing thermal and bioremediation technologies. These advantages include cost effectiveness and scalability, as well as its unique ability to recover oil from contaminated sites for resale in the future.

CORRE’s equipment, which was originally developed in Canada, is already at work in the Middle East.

CORRE is continuing to upgrade its soil washing technologies in order to stay at the forefront of the industry. The company is leveraging the strong relationships it has with its MENA agents and strategic allies, such as Canar Trading & Contracting of Kuwait and the Petroleum, Chemical and Mining Company of Saudi Arabia, in order to source, test and secure new technologies and equipment systems to further enhance its line of services. Canar Trading & Contracting is a leading construction and oil services company that currently employs 7,000 people. Petroleum, Chemical and Mining Company is a fully owned subsidiary of the Saudi Binladin Group and the sister company of Al-Najah Advanced Technology. Al-Najah Advanced Technology is the technology investment arm of the Saudi Binladin Group and owns 42.5% of CORRE. Having the equipment to remediate contaminated soil well below the internationally acceptable standard of less than 1% TPH (total petroleum hydrocarbon), and with the assistance of its major shareholder, namely the Saudi Binladin Group, CORRE continues to evaluate technologies that will increase its sludge treatment and processing capabilities, and enhance its operational results. CORRE is forging ahead with its plans to aggressively pursue the high value and long-term opportunity that Kuwait's Oil Lakes provide; a chance to generate large scale profitability by outperforming in this newly developing industry. Soil remediation has traditionally been regarded as an afterthought by major oil producers. With increased global environmental standards and the proven ability to use CORRE’s technology in the harshest environments with the foulest contamination, the company is poised to develop into a market leader.

The Kuwait Oil Lakes At the end of the Gulf War in 1991, retreating Iraqi soldiers destroyed 798 oil wells, leaving over 114 square kilometres of severely contaminated soil when crude oil from the wells covered the area. Crude oil mixed with over 6 billion gallons of seawater containing significant quantities of salt, which was used to extinguish the burning oil wells, then accumulated in depressions in the surrounding desert where it settled into nearly 40 million metric tons of soil. Evaporation due to extreme heat then resulted in the formation of a thick sludge consisting of surface sand, heavily weathered crude oil and oily substratum seawater. This left many different types of contaminations, including oil lakes, wet oil lakes, dry oil lakes, oil-contaminated piles, oil trenches and associated oil spills. Contamination of the desert altered soil properties, caused extensive plant and animal mortality, and seeped into the soil layers where it reached the only fresh water aquifers in northern Kuwait. While contaminated soil remains a grave threat to valuable fresh groundwater resources in the north, sludge continues to be an obstacle for the expansion of oil production and oil field operation. This is in addition to potential ecological and human risk associated with these oil lake beds in the north and south of Kuwait. To be added to CORRE’s corporate distribution list for updates on the Oil Lakes and other project opportunities, or for more information, please contact David Freeman at [email protected] or 416-368-4027, extension 270. Additional information, including the corporate presentation and past press releases, can be found on CORRE’s website at www.corre.com.