Ara Partners, a private equity firm that invests in low-carbon and cost-saving technology, is acquiring a Houston company, Path Environmental Technology, that makes equipment to clean above ground storage tanks and rail tank cars.
Traditionally, energy companies clean storage tanks by opening them and sending in workers with breathing equipment to conduct cleaning. Opening the tanks also allows emissions to escape. Path has created a machine that can clean the tank without having to open it, protecting workers from toxic fumes and preventing emissions from escaping. Path’s clients include such major oil companies as Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP.
Troy Thacker, Managing Partner of Ara Partner, said: “It’s a system that can do dangerous work without putting people into harm’s way. It can do ordinarily what is a very dirty job without creating hazardous waste and almost completely eliminating greenhouse gas emissions.”
Path also recycles 97% of the petroleum products, such as crude oil, that it recovers from the tank cleanings, rather than sending them to hazardous waste sites.
This deal estimated at approximately USD $40 million.