Any speculation on which company this announcment refers...

Any speculation on which company this announcment refers to?
Shell or Chevron perhaps?

If RER's methods were to work with any of the raw organic compounds they are working with, it would be huge for the entire industry.
The main thing is for the process to be economical. Useful synthetic crude can already be made out oil shale and other useful compounds can be made out of oil sands and brown coal. It's just a matter of making it worthwhile. If it's even only marginally viable economically, it will be great news for all holders. As with pretty much anything, it will only get cheaper as the scale is increased and the methods improved over time.

I know a lot of other companies are working on similar kinds of projects, just need to hope the RER method is superior.