Mantle Energy raises $5m seed funding to generate geothermal energy in oilfields
#image_title
Mantle Energy has raised $5 million in seed funding to advance a concept to produce geothermal-grade temperatures in existing oilfields.
Hunt Energy Company (Hunt Energy) has announced that its subsidiary, Mantle Energy, has closed a $5 million seed round led by 17Shoals Inc. The seed funding will go towards scaling pilot projects, securing key partnerships, and laying the foundation for future as the company prepares for a Series A funding raise.
Mantle Energy seeks to utilize the remaining potential in shale formations, corresponding to about 90% of the hydrocarbons that remain in the formation after oil production. The proposed concept is to heat the underground through controlled combustion. This heat is then captured to produce electricity. The concept is novel and yet again challenges what is typically defined as ‘geothermal energy.’
Through this method, Mantle Energy aims to create geothermal-grade temperatures without relying on volcanic geography, while still keeping carbon from the combustion process underground.
Mantle Energy comes out of Hunt Innovative Technologies, the incubator of Hunt Energy. James Franks, former Director of Innovation and Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Hunt Innovative Technologies, will serve as Mantle’s CEO, bringing deep expertise in upstream oil and gas, energy markets, and scalable product innovation.
“There are plenty of oil and gas resources available, but often they are not economically feasible to extract under current methods. Mantle leverages these remaining resources uniquely by converting them to thermal energy to add baseload power to the grid, while keeping most of the carbon in the ground,” said Franks.
“Mantle is truly a transitional energy company leveraging oil and gas resources differently,” said Hunter Hunt, CEO of Hunt Energy. “By repurposing existing oil and gas resources into a low carbon energy source to generate electricity, Mantle will unlock a new source of reliable and sustainable power to meet the growing demands of our electric grid.”
Various efforts are being done in several parts of the world to harness geothermal energy in oilfields, whether depleted or currently operating. Examples include the work being done in Colorado and North Dakota in the United States, as well as in the Shengli and Dagang oilfields in China.
Source: Mantle Energy via PR Newswire
