ISUT® puts a permanent catalytic upgrading zone inside the reservoir itself. It works across vertical, horizontal, multi-lateral and hybrid heavy oil wells. One nanocatalyst injection. Lighter crude, higher recovery, lower production cost. No surface modifications needed.
Every heavy oil producer faces the same wall, regardless of well type or recovery method. Mobility problems, rising costs and tightening market access all get worse as assets age. More optimization won't fix that.
A nanocatalyst goes in once and permanently anchors to rock inside the reservoir, building a long-life catalytic zone that upgrades crude continuously. It works across vertical, horizontal, multi-lateral and hybrid thermal wells. One injection. No new surface infrastructure.
A nanocatalyst is injected during early steam or thermal operations. It disperses through the reservoir and permanently anchors to rock surfaces along the flow paths, establishing a stable catalytic zone underground.
70 to 100 nm particles, smaller than pore throats (1,000+ nm)
As heated fluids pass through the catalytic zone, heavy fractions crack into lighter components. Viscosity and density drop. Mobility improves. API gravity rises before the oil reaches surface.
*Catalyst anchoring observed along steam-influenced rock surfaces in controlled laboratory testing.
Better mobility, improved heat retention and lighter fluid quality work together inside the reservoir. Steam demand falls. Diluent use drops. Recovery climbs. The well produces more stable, higher-value crude for the duration of its life.
Continuous upgrading. Life-of-well benefit from a single injection.ISUT® works with the well configurations already in place. One catalyst injection forms a permanent catalytic zone. Upgrading runs continuously from there, through every production cycle regardless of recovery method.
Catalyst is injected during a pre-steam or early steam cycle and anchors to rock surfaces around the wellbore. Subsequent cycles run as normal. The catalytic zone is already there, upgrading continuously.
Catalyst is placed along the horizontal injector well and builds a catalytic zone along the steam chamber interface. Upgrading runs continuously as bitumen drains to the producer. Existing SAGD workflows stay the same.
Catalyst is placed with a hydrogen source or hydrogen-lean gas and pairs well with solvents and low-pressure drives. Catalytic cracking makes solvents more effective and pushes upgrading into lower operating temperatures.
Catalyst anchors along lateral branches and builds catalytic zones at each drainage point. This works particularly well in low-pressure areas or reservoirs with variable geology across large footprints.
Sensitivity testing across low, mid and high-intensity operating scenarios shows ISUT® performs reliably regardless of well length, injection rate or reservoir pressure. The data here comes from SAGD, the most energy-intensive thermal configuration. The same catalytic mechanisms produce similar gains in CSS, hybrid, multi-lateral and pressure-drive settings.
ISUT® cracks vacuum residue into lighter hydrocarbons underground, raising API gravity over time. Conventional SAGD stays flat. CSS and hybrid configurations show similar API gains.
Lighter oil needs less condensate to meet pipeline spec. Demand drops sharply once ISUT® is active, across any well type.
The ISUT® technology brief covers catalyst design, the two-phase process, performance data across configurations, and commercial economics.
Whether you run CSS wells, SAGD pairs, multi-laterals or hybrid systems, and whether you're looking at a pilot or full-field deployment, we'd like to understand your reservoir.