MIAMI, May 15, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abakan Inc. (OTCQB:ABKI) ("Abakan"), an emerging leader in the advanced coatings and metal formulations markets, today announced that it has appointed oil and gas industry veteran, Dr. Ryan Owen, PhD, to the Company's Board of Directors. Dr. Owen has over 13 years of industry experience with BP, both domestically and internationally in upstream oil and gas, and has worked for Woods Mackenzie as a managing consultant.
The oil and gas industry is usually divided into three major sectors: upstream, midstream and downstream. The upstream sector, commonly known as the exploration and production (E&P) sector, is where the bulk of the industry's capital expenditure is invested. Upstream sector work involves finding and then producing hydrocarbons from onshore and offshore deposits, processing the hydrocarbons, and delivering them to market. As the environments from which these hydrocarbon reserves are produced become increasingly hostile (deeper waters, higher temperatures, higher pressures, more corrosive environments), new, increasingly sophisticated materials and coatings are required to enable cost effective and safe production of the resources. Understanding these challenges, and understanding how the industry wants to see them solved, is a key requirement for a technology provider like Abakan to be successful in this space.
Abakan CEO, Robert Miller stated, "As we expand our PComP™ powder production to meet the growing demand, and as we introduce our game-changing CermaClad™ clad pipe products to the global market, it becomes extremely important that we continue to attract industry experts to help guide our strategy. Dr. Owen's vast upstream experience has made him keenly aware of all the issues that corrosion poses to the oil and gas industry today. Our team is very excited to be working with Dr. Owen. His expertise and skill set will be extremely beneficial in formulating and executing our strategic growth plans."
After completing his PhD in Bio-Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, Dr. Owen began his career with BP in 1997 as a Concept Engineer based in Norway. Dr. Owen then progressed into a number of engineering and operations roles on large developments in the North Sea, Angola and the Gulf of Mexico. In 2007, Dr. Owen was promoted to working directly for BP's Head of Upstream Technology, where he developed a deep understanding of the broad challenges associated with the energy industry and how to build capability and organize resources to solve challenges. After his tenure at BP, Dr. Owen worked for consultants Wood Mackenzie and GlobalData advising industry players, government organizations and service providers on key strategic issues facing the industry. He currently continues to play an advisory role with leading energy technology incubators, at the Houston Technology Center (HTC) and at the Texas A&M Clean Energy Institute.
Most recently, Dr. Owen worked with an emerging oil and gas operator, Ping Petroleum, as Manager of Surface Developments. He was involved with the firm since its inception and has had a broad range of responsibilities, including acquisition due diligence, developing operating capability, building contractor and service provider relationships, as well as being involved in fund raising.
"I look forward to working with the Abakan team. I am confident that my multi-functional, global expertise in the oil and gas industry will add great value to Abakan as it transitions from early stage adoption to rapid commercialization," said Dr. Owen.
About Abakan, Inc.
Abakan develops, manufactures, and markets advanced nano-composite materials , innovative fabricated metal products and highly engineered metal composites for applications in the oil and gas, petrochemical, mining, aerospace and defense, energy, infrastructure and processing industries. Abakan's technology portfolio currently includes high-speed, large-area metal cladding technology ; long-life nano-composite anti-corrosion and wear coating materials . Abakan's products have demonstrated longer life, higher productivity and extremely high strength-to-weight ratios compared to competing technologies. The Abakan group of companies has been honored by The Wall Street Journal as the #1 Manufacturing Innovation across the globe , by Pipeline Industries Guild as the Top Subsea Pipeline Technology, by Forbes as the #1 Most Promising Material Science Company in the United States , by American Metals Market with the Steel Excellence Award , by Inc. 500 as one of the Fastest Growing Manufacturing Company in the U.S. , and has received numerous other trade, industry and technology awards including five R&D 100 Awards and a Technology Innovation Award from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Over $50 million has been invested in product development and testing by federal agencies, national labs and our companies in order to deliver products that offer improved performance over the current state of art. Abakan has successfully introduced its metal coatings for metal asset protection and life extension in the oil and gas and mining industries, and is currently focusing on the scale-up and commercialization of its highly disruptive metal cladding products for the oil and gas, oil sands, and mining industries. Abakan currently operates from multiple locations in United States, and intends to expand global operations in South America, Canada and Indo-China.
Forward-Looking Statements:
A number of statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements. These forward looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties including technological obsolescence, market acceptance of future products, competitive market conditions, and the sufficiency of capital resources. The actual results Abakan may achieve could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to such risks and uncertainties. Abakan encourages the public to read the information provided here in conjunction with its most recent filings on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Abakan's public filings may be viewed at www.sec.gov .
Abakan Inc .
Robert Miller, Chief Executive Officer
Phone: 786-206-5368
Email: robert.miller@abakaninc.com
www.abakaninc.com
Investor Relations
Surety Financial Group, LLC
Phone: 410-833-0078
www.suretyfingroup.com
