Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. has been granted a patent for its proprietary Synchronized Thermal Additional Recovery (STAR) EOR technology by the Colombian patent authority, the Superintendencia de Industria y Comercio (SIC), according to a news release.

The patent award by the SIC provides the company with intellectual property rights to the STAR technology in Colombia for an exclusive 20-year period from the filing date of April 1, 2011, to April 1, 2031.

The patent specifically recognizes: the synchronized system of oil production using the combustion process, employing in-situ measurement, monitoring, and control of operational conditions in real time and distance, and the use of a numerical model intelligent well/subsurface system to monitor and control the progress of the combustion front and fluids; critical to successful application of STAR, the release said.