Technology + Finance

“I finally know what distinguishes man from the other beasts: financial worries” -- Jules Renard (French Writer, 1864-1910)

Today’s Tip: Use patent databases in tandem with financial databases … and teach your colleagues to do the same

I found the following patent, which seemed interesting enough to explore the patent’s assignee, MEG Energy Corp. in Hoover’s (www.hoovers.com), a Dun & Bradstreet database.  The information you find about a company in a financial database can help determine how likely the patent is to be worth studying.

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Pub. No.:    WO/2013/106897    International Application No.:    PCT/CA2012/000049
Publication Date:  25.07.2013 International Filing Date:  17.01.2012
Low Complexity, High Yield Conversion Of Heavy Hydrocarbons
Applicants:  MEG ENERGY CORP. [CA/CA]; 11th Floor 520 - 3rd Avenue SW Calgary, Alberta T2P 0R3 (CA)
Abstract:  
A process for producing pipeline-ready or refinery-ready feedstock from heavy hydrocarbons using a high-performance solvent extraction process with high local solvent-to-process fluid ratios yet maintaining low overall solvent- to-process fluid ratios, by first performing mild thermal cracking on the heavy hydrocarbons and then separating asphaltene-rich fractions from a resulting thermally affected fluid so that the high solvent-to-oil ratio portion of the process acts only on those asphaltene-rich fractions, and producing a dry, solid asphaltene as an end-product.
source: http://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/WO2013106897
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Here’s what I found in Hoover’s …

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MEG Energy Corp.
Calgary, AB Canada
Toronto MEG
520 3rd Ave. Sw, 11th Fl.
Calgary T2P 0R3 AB
Canada
Phone: +1-403-770-0446
Fax: +1-403-264-1711
http://www.megenergy.com
 The snowy Athabasca oil sands of northern Alberta are a real day at the beach for MEG Energy. The company produces 26,000 barrels per day of bitumen, a tar-like form of crude oil, from its property at Christina Lake. The 850-sq.-mi. property is undergoing an expansion to increase production by another 35,000 barrels per day. MEG Energy also owns a 100% working interest in 32 sq. miles of undeveloped land in Surmont, located about 30 miles from Christina Lake, as well as 750 sq. mi. of oil sands leases in other properties across the region. Altogether the company reports 1.9 billion barrels of proved plus probable reserves. MEG Energy was founded in 1999 and went public in 2010, raising $700 million in its IPO.

2012 Profitability
	MEG Energy	Cenovus	Suncor	Industry Median	Market Median1
Gross Profit Margin	81.87%	24.93%	53.26%	56.06%	33.78%
Pre-Tax Profit Margin	-9.51%	6.50%	12.19%	11.17%	9.75%
Net Profit Margin	-9.59%	3.02%	7.17%	3.90%	6.65%
Return on Equity	-2.38%	5.23%	7.02%	3.08%	10.86%
Return on Assets	-1.42%	2.20%	3.62%	1.40%	2.04%
Return on Invested Cap	-2.98%	1.19%	4.50%	2.05%	5.97%

source: Hoover's (www.hoovers.com)
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