Quadrise says drilling has begun on two pilot wells at Valkor Technologies’ Asphalt Ridge project in Utah while installation proceeds on a 500-barrel-per-day oil-sands pilot plant, moving the programme towards an intended production start in the first quarter of 2027.
The wells incorporate findings from a Core Laboratories study into Valkor’s modified enhanced-oil-recovery process. A further eight-well drilling programme is expected to begin later in 2026, with Valkor targeting approximately 1,000 barrels per day of production during 2027 if the pilot and subsequent development work proceed to plan.
Quadrise is involved because heavy sweet oil produced by the project is intended to become feedstock for its MSAR and bioMSAR emulsion-fuel technologies. A sample from the pilot plant has been sent to the company’s research facility for formulation work scheduled during the fourth quarter.
The company’s 600-barrel-per-day Multifuel Manufacturing Unit and associated equipment are due to be shipped to Utah after Quadrise receives the outstanding US$0.95 million balance of its site licence fee. Valkor has advised that payment is expected by the end of October, subject to receipt of project funding.
The programme therefore depends on several linked steps: successful drilling, pilot-plant completion, project funding, payment of the licence balance, mobilisation of Quadrise equipment, and completion of formulation work around the produced oil. Delay at one stage can move the operating timetable for the equipment further downstream.
The schedule has already changed during 2026. In June, Quadrise said the 500-barrel-per-day pilot plant was expected to be commissioned in the fourth quarter, while its Multifuel Manufacturing Unit was due to reach the site during the third quarter. The September update now puts pilot production in the first quarter of 2027 and ties equipment shipment to receipt of the outstanding licence payment.
Schedule movement is material, even where it is unsurprising for a pilot project. Until representative production is available, the partners cannot generate the operating data needed to establish feed variability, plant availability, maintenance requirements, fuel-manufacturing performance, or the economics of a larger deployment.
MSAR is based on an oil-in-water emulsion in which heavy hydrocarbons are dispersed into fine droplets using water and additives. The process is intended to create a lower-viscosity fuel without relying on the same level of heating or conventional hydrocarbon diluent required by heavy fuel oils.
bioMSAR uses the same broad emulsion approach while incorporating renewable components. Quadrise has carried out pilot testing across several applications, but the Utah project presents a different feedstock and production route from refinery-residue applications.
Valkor is developing heavy sweet oil from the Asphalt Ridge resource. Before that material can be manufactured consistently into MSAR or bioMSAR, Quadrise has to establish the formulation required by the physical and chemical properties of the oil produced from the pilot system.
The sample sent to the company’s research facility gives engineers an opportunity to test additive selection, water content, processing conditions, emulsion stability, and other parameters before the Multifuel Manufacturing Unit reaches Utah. Continuous field production will still have to confirm that the incoming feed remains within a range the formulation can tolerate.
That is particularly important because the upstream operation is itself under development. Pilot wells have to establish how much oil can be produced, how output changes over time, and whether material from different wells remains sufficiently consistent for a stable downstream fuel-manufacturing process.
A laboratory formulation built around one representative sample can require adjustment once a plant begins receiving continuous production. Temperature, composition, solids, water, throughput, and other operating variables can all affect an emulsion process that must remain stable through storage, handling, and eventual use.
The outstanding licence payment is another practical threshold. Quadrise expects the remaining US$0.95 million by the end of October, after which the 600-barrel-per-day manufacturing unit and associated equipment can be mobilised. Its rated capacity is slightly above the initial 500-barrel-per-day pilot-plant output, providing a defined processing route if the upstream programme reaches its target.
The planned eight-well programme would then support Valkor’s ambition to reach around 1,000 barrels per day during 2027. Achieving that level would require dependable well production, functioning plant equipment, additional processing capacity or operating strategy, storage and handling infrastructure, and customers prepared to take the resulting fuel.
Joint marketing of MSAR and bioMSAR is already under way in Utah, according to Quadrise, but commercial interest does not remove the need for the pilot stage. The project still has to show that the oil can be recovered consistently, processed at the stated rates, formulated into stable fuel, and supplied on economics that work beyond demonstration scale.
The September update marks tangible physical progress rather than commercial completion. Two wells are being drilled, the 500-barrel-per-day plant is being installed, and a representative oil sample has reached the UK for formulation. Funding, licence payment, equipment mobilisation, plant commissioning, and sustained production now form the next industrial milestones.
