Quadrise Fuels International Plc AIM:QFI the London-headquartered synthetic emulsion fuels developer has today (16th January) published a business update on its ongoing projects.
As previously reported, the company had inked a material transfer and cooperation agreement with its principal client in Morocco to deliver an industrial demonstration test with a view to starting commercial supplies in the North African country.
However, Quadrise was affected by delays in the delivery of fuel supplies. The company said today that its MSAR fuel (a low viscosity oil-in-water emulsified synthetic Heavy Fuel Oil) arrived in Morocco in December and was awaiting customs clearance. The company also noted it had sent engineers ahead to the test site in Morocco to set-up the test facility.
The company said: “We anticipate that the remaining logistical issues will be resolved this month so that the trial can then proceed as planned. Quadrise expects a successful trial to be followed thereafter by discussions to conclude a commercial fuel supply agreement in 1H23 as planned.”
Utah Project
As reported, the company is also currently involved in a project in the Heavy Sweet Oil Uinta basin project in Utah, working with partners Tomco and Valkor through Greenfield Energy in an oil sands development to create compliant biofuels.
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The company said today that it is in the process of commercial discussions for the supply of a license and manufacturing unit to enable Valkor to produce MSAR and bioMSAR (combining MSAR technology with renewable glycerine to produce a low carbon, environmentally-friendly alternative to HFO and biofuels) and that the discussions are progressing well, and it hopes that a definitive agreement will be secured during this quarter.
Vessel Trials
The company is also collaborating with Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC), the world’s largest container shipping company and in July 2022, Quadrise signed a Framework Agreement with MSC to carry out trials of its bioMSAR and MSAR product lines with a view to the commercial supply of one or both fuels to MSC’s global fleet.
Quadrise reported that it has now completed its MSC vessel preparations for the Proof of Concept and Letter of No Objection trials. The company now hopes that the trial will happen sometime in 2Q23. The company said in a statement: “Discussions continue with third party fuel suppliers pursuant to the production of the fuels for the vessel trials and for future commercial fuel supply agreements.”
Research and Development
The fuel company continues to hone its fuel technology. As reported, the company sees itself as a key provider of transportation fuels that will help the shipping and industrials sector reduce their carbon emissions.
The company completed a testing programme in Italy last month and is making the results available for commercial purposes in 1Q23. Work continues, the company said, with Vertoro to integrate Crude Sugar Oil as a bio-feedstock for bioMSAR.
Quadrise’s ambition is to develop a net-zero biofuel solution by 2030 which will replace heavily-polluting HFO for shipping and industrial purposes. The company said: “Diesel engine testing on bioMSAR and other fuel/biofuel formulations to support the Quadrise Blend-on-Board solution is in progress at Aquafuel, with the results from this activity still expected in 1Q23.”
Panama and Honduras – marine shipping hubs – are a focus of Quadrise’s commercial strategy and the company is actively pursuing trial and commercial supply agreements with candidate power generation clients in both countries.
It is also moving forward with its negotiations with a Caribbean refinery and developing its reach in Mexico.
Optimistic outlook
Tom Fraine, industrial analyst at broker ShoreCap, which acts as Quadrise’s join broker said: “We remain optimistic regarding the potential scale of Quadrise’s projects. The company’s proprietary fuels have the ability to significantly reduce both fuel costs and emissions. BioMSAR and MSAR also make the transportation and handling of fuel easier versus conventional heavy fuel oil and no significant adaptions to equipment are required for their usage.”Quadrise opened trading at 1.27p today and was up to 1.6p within the first hour of trading. The company has offered a year-to-date return of -10.1% and a one-year return of -30.4%, with its shares ranging between 1.1p and 2.85p over a 52-week period, giving the company a market capitalisation of GBP23.6m.
Deshe Analytics rated Quadrise as a ‘Hold’ saying: “Quadrise Fuels International plc published its 2Q22 report on 3rd October 2022 with positive results, but no significant factors particularly remarkable relative to its peers. It is highly likely that the company will be mostly tethered to market performance and sector movements for the near term. We gave Quadrise Fuels International plc a 61 rating…”
