Dr. Doug Bennion and Dr. R.G. (Gord) Moore, Schulich School of Engineering

Hycal Energy Research Laboratories is one of only a small number of private companies and commercial research labs specializing in the area of ‘reservoir optimization’, otherwise known as reservoir engineering, in the oil recovery business.

Founded in 1976 from research undertaken by Dr. Doug Bennion and Dr. R.G. (Gord) Moore, Hycal has grown from a small research lab into an international company with 60 employees and clients worldwide. Bennion has played a leading role in developing the firm’s now unparalleled expertise in reservoir evaluation. Today, Hycal has clients located throughout the USA, South America, Turkey, the South Pacific, North Sea, Asia, Africa, Australia and Alberta. Hycal was purchased by Weatherford International Ltd. (WFT: NYSE) in a multimillion-dollar deal completed in early 2005. As of May 2, 2005, Weatherford’s market capitalization was $7.4billion.

Valuing brand recognition and knowledge transfer

Hycal’s expertise in reservoir evaluation is unique; acknowledging the strength of the Hycal brand, the company is run as an independent division within Weatherford.

Hycal maintains a strong tie to academia by regularly publishing its learnings in industry journals.