Bruno Lavandier has 17 years of international experience in various industries, including turn-key engineering, water treatment, oil and gas. Bruno joined Nalco in 2001 to coordinate the re-engineering of Nalco's supply chain, and then served as Nalco's Corporate Controller, playing a critical role in supporting Nalco through its 2003 purchase and related debt offerings and through the initial public offering of shares of Nalco Holding Company.
In his former role as Vice President, Finance and Business Operations, for Nalco's Energy Services Division, Bruno worked hand in hand with the sales force on significant business development projects in West Africa, North Africa and Kazakhstan, and led the acquisition process of TIORCO, Inc by Nalco Company, as well as the set up of Nalco's Joint Venture with Stepan to form the first totally integrated chemical EOR company - TIORCO.
Bruno graduated from HEC, France's leading graduate business school, and holds a Master's Degree in Business awarded by the Community of European Management Schools (CEMS).
Jim Mack
Executive Vice President
Jim Mack has in excess of 37 years in the EOR industry including more than 30 years with TIORCO. Jim has designed chemical EOR projects for reservoirs throughout the world. He has pioneered new EOR technologies and is the author of more than 16 papers on EOR and has conducted numerous SPE seminars on EOR technologies. Jim holds an MBA from Colorado State University and a BSCHE from the University of Wisconsin.
Charles Thomas, PhD
Director of Reservoir and Technical Services
Dr. Charles Thomas began his professional career in 1968 investigating improved oil recovery processes including miscible and immiscible gas flooding, polymer flooding and surfactant-polymer flooding at the Phillips Research Center. With Phillips, he became Reservoir Engineering Manager for the Eastern and Western E&P Divisions. Subsequent experience included leadership and research assignments with the DOE's Idaho National Laboratory, the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology's Petroleum Recovery Research Center and most recently the Science applications International Corporation (SAIC) Alaska Energy Office. Dr. Thomas received his Ph.D. in engineering mechanics and applied mathematics and MS in engineering mechanics from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a BS in mechanical engineering from Auburn University.
Eduardo J. Manrique, PhD
Senior Reservoir Engineer
With more than 21 years of experience in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and author of in excess of 40 professional papers, Dr. Eduardo Manrique is an internationally recognized authority on EOR processes.
Dr. Manrique began his professional career in 1989 at INTEVEP, Research Center of PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela S. A.) Venezuelan State Oil Company, where he investigated improved oil recovery (IOR) processes including Water-Alternating-Gas (WAG), steam injection and alkali-surfactant-polymer (ASP) flooding. He became IOR Manager at INTEVEP and community knowledge leader on enhanced oil recovery (EOR) methods for medium and light oils for the PDVSA E&P Division. In 1996 and 1997, Dr. Manrique worked for STATOIL in Norway on WAG technologies as part of a special agreement with PDVSA. Dr. Manrique served as the Enhanced Recovery Program Manager for the Center for Energy and Technology of the Americas (CETA) in Florida with the support of the U.S. Department of Energy (2003-2005) and was senior reservoir engineer for international and U.S. IOR projects at Norwest Questa Engineering (2005-2009). In May 2009, Dr. Manrique joined TIORCO as a Senior Reservoir Engineer.
At TIORCO, Dr. Manrique oversees coordination and support for reservoir development plan studies and chemical EOR field implementation. He is responsible for evaluation of the complete TIORCO portfolio of technologies, which include polymer flooding, polymer gel systems, BrightWater and surfactant-based methods such as surfactant-polymer (SP) and alkaline-surfactant-polymer (ASP). Dr. Manrique also manages a reservoir engineering and simulation group that provides project design support and post-project evaluation.
He holds a Ph.D. Chemistry, 1999, and a B.S. Chemistry, 1988, from the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela and is a member of the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Tom Waldman, PhD
Director Sales & Business Operations
Dr. Tom Waldman has broad experience in all facets of the chemical industry from basic research to business leadership. He holds 24 patents and publications and has held leadership positions in R&D, business development, corporate strategy and mergers and acquisitions in the chemical and allied industries. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Utah and a BSc from the University of California, Irvine.
Pat Neal
EOR Solutions Sales Manager
Pat Neal is the Global Sales Manager for TIORCO and has BS in Geology from the University of Southern Mississippi, and has been in the energy industry for 26 years. He has been involved in drilling and exploration with a strong background in production chemistry and working with secondary water-flooding techniques. He spent four years as country manager in Nigeria, West Africa and most recently took a lead role in the commercialization of the BrightWater® techonolgy for waterflood sweep improvement.
Don Wicks
Vice President of Strategic Marketing
Don Wicks joined TIORCO in 2006 with extensive management experience including 25 years in the oil and gas industry concentrating on enhanced oil recovery and unconventional reservoirs. He served as Chief Operating Officer for nearly three years and is now VP of Strategic Marketing. He spent much of his early professional career with ICF Resources, Inc. beginning as a reservoir simulation engineer, eventually becoming vice president and an owner of the company. During that time, ICF Resources grew from 23 to more 5,000 employees with annual revenues in excess of $500 million. As executive vice president for Advanced Resources International, Mr. Wicks was principal investigator of major initiatives to commercialize NASA and Gas Research Institute products for use in the oil and gas industry.
Mr. Wicks has authored over 40 professional papers on various oil and gas topics, and has conducted numerous technical workshops on reservoir simulation, EOR, and unconventional gas recovery.
Chuck Norman
Vice President Latin America
Prior to joining TIORCO in 1997, Chuck Norman was the owner and principal of CRS Services, Inc., a consulting group to oil and gas interest owners. He also served as a senior oil and gas analyst to the United States Senate for two years, leading investigations into alleged mismanagement of federal oil and gas mineral interests. He began his professional career at a CPA/consulting firm in 1978, becoming a partner with the firm. Mr. Norman holds a BSc. degree in Petroleum Engineering, and a Master's in Mineral Economics, both from the Colorado School of Mines, and a second BSc. in accounting from the University of Colorado. He is a CPA, a member of SPE, has been published in numerous trade journals and SPE articles, and is fluent in Spanish.
Dan Larsen
Operations Manager
As Operations Manager, Dan Larsen oversees implementation of TIORCO's EOR projects from the initial scheduling of equipment and manpower requirements to yearly project evaluations and recommendations. Dan has more than 25 years of experience in the EOR industry with TIORCO including EOR field implementation, long-term monitoring, equipment calibration, fluid sampling and training. He has also worked as a roustabout pusher and directed general oil field construction crews. Dan attended Northwest Community College in Powell, Wyoming.
About Us
Worldwide Enhanced Oil Recovery The dramatic increase in the urgency to develop untapped reserves in mature fields has created renewed interest in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies on a global scale. Recognizing this customer need, Nalco and Stepan formed a joint venture to globally market custom-engineered chemical solutions for increased production of crude oil and gas from existing fields. The joint venture centered on the technology and experience of TIORCO (acquired by Nalco in 2008).
Manufacturing, Research and Development Locations
TIORCO was originally formed in 1977 to provide technology, products, services, and equipment for economically improving oil recovery for oil producers. Over the next 30 years, TIORCO expanded from a Rocky Mountain service company to international operations. By 2008, TIORCO’s primary activities were focused on North and South America with projects also being managed in China, India and Russia. The acquisition of TIORCO by Nalco and subsequent joint venture with Stepan dramatically expanded TIORCO’s reach and capabilities.
Under the TIORCO brand, the joint venture provides energy producers worldwide with integrated oil recovery processes by leveraging: TIORCO's 30 years of experience in EOR polymer and reservoir expertise; Nalco's extensive reach in global upstream energy markets and BrightWater® technologies; and Stepan's global surfactant technology and manufacturing capabilities. The benefit to customers is a seamless sales and service channel and the first unified approach to the EOR market, enabling the identification, implementation and evaluation of solutions that optimize oil recovery.
The Knowledge Leaders in EOR
More than 30 years of field & lab experience
Strong R&D capabilities to optimize chemical design and performance
Broad portfolio of surfactants designed for chemical EOR applications
Expertise in water treatment to optimize injection and surfactant performance
Flow assurance for injection and production wells
Nalco Company is the world's leading water treatment and process improvement company, delivering significant environmental, social, and economic performance benefits to a variety of industrial and institutional customers. Learn More
Stepan Company is a global manufacturer of specialty and intermediate chemicals used in consumer products and industrial application. Stepan is a leading merchant producer of surfactants, which are the key ingredients in consumer and industrial cleaning compounds. Learn More
