28 April 2008 - TETRA Technologies Inc., an oil and gas services company has started work on a new chemical processing facility in El Dorado, Arkansas, which will produce calcium chloride, a feedstock for the firm's completion fluids business as well as for applications in a variety of other markets, inckuding the food industry.
In a statement, TETRA said it will invest USD 100 million in the 500,000 sq. ft. facility, which will employ 50 people at full production. It is expected to be completed by late 2009.
TETRA, headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, is the world's largest, vertically integrated producer, marketer, and distributor of Calcium Chloride.
Calcium chloride is commonly used as an Electrolyte and has an extremely salty taste, as found in sports drinks and other beverages. It can also be used as a preservative to maintain firmness in canned vegetables or in higher concentrations in pickles to give a salty taste while not increasing the food's sodium content. It can also be found in snack foods.