Update and Investor Conference Call

RNS Number : 5682Q

Quadrise Fuels International PLC

07 June 2018

 

Quadrise Fuels International plc

("Quadrise", "QFI" or "the Company")

Update and Investor Conference Call

Quadrise Fuels International plc (AIM: QFI) provides the following update on recent business development activities.

Quadrise is progressing opportunities in the power, marine, upstream, petrochemical and refinery refuelling markets:

·    There are opportunities to use the facility at Cepsa for supply to the marine or power markets.  Cepsa remains supportive of Quadrise and recently hosted a refinery visit from a prospective Middle Eastern client, which was well received. This prospective client also travelled to the UK and visited Quadrise Research Facility ("QRF") to witness MSAR^® being produced from its own residues.

·    There remain significant opportunities in the power market in the Middle East and the Far East and we are continuing to address these either directly or through our relationship with JGC Corporation. 

·    Where appropriate, we are also looking to establish new relationships with counterparties who have a strong presence in key regional markets.

·    In the marine market, we have witnessed momentum building on the implementation of exhaust gas cleaning systems (or "scrubbers") across all major segments, now including tankers, bulkers and container ships, in addition to the cruise and ferry markets where there has historically been a significant installed base.  The economic case for MSAR®  is also improving, with the spread between high sulphur heavy fuel oil ("HFO") and low sulphur fuels widening significantly in the futures market up to 2020 and beyond - this also reinforces the economic benefits of scrubber installation, versus <0.5% sulphur fuel use.  In addition, we are seeing increasing demand from ship owners looking for term high sulphur fuel supply contracts aligned with scrubber installation, which could provide an opportunity for MSAR® supply to consumers and major hubs.

·    The Company is progressing an opportunity in the petrochemical market, which demonstrates that MSAR®  technology is adaptable and could, the Board believes, open up new potential markets.

·    In the upstream oil sector QFI is working with the owner of a significant low sulphur heavy oil asset where MSAR® could, subject to necessary funding, be used as part of a number of processing facility solutions to enable lower cost steam generation to improve the economics of crude oil production and export.

·    QRF has now been relocated to new premises - which has significantly reduced rental costs without any impact on the work that QRF does to support development and operations.

Alongside these activities, we continue to assess the potential to work with selected partners to accelerate our planned development activities.

Opportunities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ("KSA")

The announcement made on 9 April 2018 highlighted the challenges that led to the planned combustion boiler trial project in KSA not progressing.  This was a hugely disappointing outcome for the Company, but was the result of the inability of the KSA oil and electricity companies to enter into a back-to-back agreement for the trial.  Ultimately this led to the withdrawal of the refinery counterparty from the project, due to the KSA oil company not having signed the required fuel supply agreement. 

We understand that the KSA Ministry of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources is formulating a new energy strategy for the Kingdom, which is expected to be published in June 2018.  There are also plans to restructure the power sector in KSA, which is expected to include the current dominant supplier being split into a small number of companies, each with a similar mix of generation assets. This restructuring should, we believe, be a positive factor for Quadrise, creating a requirement to "sweat" existing assets and reduce operating costs (primarily fuel costs). Even with the ambitious targets for renewables that have been put forward recently in KSA, liquid fuels will, in our view, still be a major fuel source for power generation and desalination in KSA for many years to come.

Despite the challenges of working in KSA, the Company continues to see significant economic and environmental advantages to the use of MSAR^® technology there.  Current HFO demand in KSA exceeds domestic supply; and converting just half of domestic demand to MSAR^®, a low-cost alternative to HFO, could save KSA more than US$500M pa.  Recent increases in the prices of low sulphur fuels relative to HFO in the futures markets have materially increased the realisable savings from MSAR^® in recent months, and are likely to continue to do so leading up to and beyond 2020.

Given the complex structure of the stakeholders in KSA, we are seeking to engage with the relevant ministries to illustrate the "In-Kingdom-Total-Value-Added" opportunity that implementing MSAR^® would enable in the short term, as a complementary enabler for KSA to progress longer-term goals for renewable energy in the future, at the lowest cost today.

In addition, there are significant opportunities in the cement industry within KSA and the region that Quadrise is currently exploring with industry stakeholders as fuel subsidies are withdrawn.

Investor Call

The Company will be hosting an investor conference call at 09.30 a.m. (London time) on Monday 11 June 2018, where it will provide investors with an opportunity to ask questions on these recent developments.

The details for investors wishing to participate in the call are:

United Kingdom: 0203 059 8124, International: [phone].

When dialling in, please enter the passcode '4839391#', then state the title of the call: "Quadrise Fuels ‐ Investor Conference Call."  To ensure that you will be connected promptly, it would be helpful to dial-in ten minutes in advance of the scheduled start-time.

The Company invites investors to lodge questions in advance via [e-mail].

This announcement is inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.

For further information, please refer to the Company's website at www.quadrisefuels.com or contact:

Quadrise Fuels International Plc
Mike Kirk, Executive Chairman	[phone]
Jason Miles, Chief Operating Officer
Nominated Adviser
Smith & Williamson Corporate Finance Limited
Dr Azhic Basirov	[phone]
Ben Jeynes
Katy Birkin
Broker
Peel Hunt LLP
Richard Crichton	[phone]
Ross Allister
Public & Investor Relations
FTI Consulting
Ben Brewerton	[phone]
Sara Powell

Notes to Editors

QFI is the supplier of MSAR^® emulsion technology and fuels, a low-cost alternative to heavy fuel oil (one of the world's largest fuel markets, comprising over 450 million tons per annum) in the global shipping, oil refining, and steam and power generation industries.

 

END

 

 

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