Dr. Pedro
Pereira's Background
Graduated as a Chemist in 1976 and obtained a doctorate in
Heterogeneous catalysis, both from L'Universite de Poitiers,
France, in 1979. Was a chemical engineering professor at the
"Universidad de Los Andes" in Merida-Venezuela for seven
years, a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley
Laboratory-University of California, Berkeley during the
period Oct.1987-Dec.1990. He has since dedicated his
professional and research activities to catalysts and
catalytic processes development using both steam and hydrogen
for heavy oils and residuals upgrading.
Dr. Pereira has also published on the Hydrogen
generation from coal steam gasification and
patented first on a catalyst for methane coupling, to produce
Ethylene/ethane. Author of more than 60 published articles
and presentations, more than 10 International Conferences and
Seminars, he dedicated 14 years as a Research and Development
Leader at a major Petroleum corporation where he co-invented
and coordinated the development of the two major competitive
upgrading technologies, named Aquaconversion and HDHplus.
Dr. Pereira has 7 patents on the areas and processes above
mentioned. Between 1999 and 2002, he gained technology business
and management experience as well as knowledge in technology
strategic planning. His activities nowadays pursue significant
improvements to the upgrading of Athabasca bitumen and other
Alberta and Canadian heavy oils by combining research in applied
catalysis targeting specifically designed catalysts, with research
of upgrading processes integrated with the selective separation
and conversion of coke precursor molecules from selective
deasphalting and gasification. This has the potential to generate
technology commercialization that will promote cost-effective
conversion of the bitumen and heavy oil reserves in Canada and
throughout the world into valuable products.