Versalis, the Italian chemical company of Eni, and Solazyme, a renewable oil and bioproducts company headquartered in South San Francisco, announced a partnership to expand the commercial use of Encapso, the world’s first commercially-available, biodegradable encapsulated lubricant for drilling fluids.

Part of a leading oil and gas company and operating internationally with a dedicated distribution network, Versalis will expand market access and drive global sales for Encapso as a high-performance and sustainable drilling fluid additive. Versalis’sinitial emphasis focus for the use of Encapso will be oil and gas fields operated by its parent company Eni, which is responsible for a significant amount of the world’s petroleum drilling activity. Developed from Solazyme’s technology platform, non-hazardous and biodegradable Encapso, will be featured as part of the company’s recently launched product portfolio of Specialty Oilfield Chemicals product portfolio.

Encapso has been commercially used in more than 30 oil wells in basins across the US and Canada, including major areas of exploration in the Williston Basin, Denver-Julesburg Basin, Permian Basin and Western Canada, as well as in laboratory trials. Encapso’s versatility, and inert shell makes make it reusable across various formulations and applications, thus, further reducing overall customer costs.

According to Daniele Ferrari, Versalis CEO, Encapso, with its renewable footprint and biodegradability biodegradable properties, offers a high-performance and sustainable solution for the oil and gas industry. The know-how and the innovation potential of Solazyme makes it an ideal partner for Versalis to further develop its biobased chemicals business.