Company Announcements

7 September 2020

Quadrise Fuels International plc

("Quadrise", "QFI", the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries the "Group")

Notice of Annual Results, Business Update and Investor Event

Quadrise Fuels International plc (AIM: QFI) provides the following update ahead of its final results for the year ended 30 June 2020, which the Company intends to announce on Monday 5 October 2020. 

Business Development Overview

Progress has continued to be made in several areas that has enabled Quadrise to increase the breadth and depth of its business development programme which is now actively addressing the vast majority of the potential MSAR^® market opportunities.  

Quadrise's well-established strategy to broaden and deepen the range of available project opportunities through our network of influential partners in major global markets proved to be very effective in 2020, despite the disruptions caused by COVID-19. The strategy has enabled Quadrise, at negligible cash-cost, to use the skills, networks and resources of our partners to effectively and efficiently scale our in-house business development capabilities.

In addition, this network of in-country partners has played a pivotal role in enabling Quadrise to mitigate, where possible, the impact of COVID-19 on our project and business development activities.  

As a result of this strategy we now have a range of opportunities at various stages of development; from early phase discussions and market assessments, to active on-site projects to demonstrate MSAR^® technology ahead of a decision to progress to commercial implementation.

Industrial Applications

·      Morocco - Work is progressing on preparations for the work on site and the current expectation is that we will be able to start the trial in October 2020, subject to the Quadrise team gaining access to the site.  If the trial proceeds on this basis, the overall timetable will not have been extended significantly as a result of COVID-19 disruption as we were proactive and brought forward the start of the Phase 2 work.

Upstream Applications

·    Following successful discussions with Valkor Technologies ("Valkor"), to investigate the potential deployment of MSAR^® technology in Utah, USA a Commercial Trial Agreement ("CTA") was signed with Greenfield Energy LLC ("Greenfield"), a joint-venture between Valkor and Tomco Energy plc.  The intention is to undertake testing during 2020 at the Petroteq Oil Sand Plant ("POSP") located at the Asphalt Ridge Facility in Utah, USA, which is owned and managed by Greenfield.

Power Applications, Refinery Refuelling, & Co-Development Opportunities

·    Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Al Khafrah Holdings Group ("AKHG") - Quadrise management and our local partners AKHG continue to engage with stakeholders to resume the planned 400MWe boiler trial using in-Kingdom MSAR^® manufacture. Quadrise is supporting this through a significant enhancement to the Company's profile in the region. In particular, via the recent publication and continued promotion of a White Paper (in August 2020, in both English and Arabic) outlining the significant economic and environmental advantages that MSAR^®  fuel production and use in-Kingdom would deliver to the Kingdom and the Middle East.

·   South America (Freepoint Commodities) - Good progress has been made following the initial meetings in Ecuador during Q1 2020.  Following the completion of the techno-economic study by Quadrise, which was positively received by the client, we are now discussing the next steps - including proof of concept testing at the Quadrise Research Facility ("QRF") and demonstrating  MSAR^® production and use at the refinery as precursors to commercial implementation if these proceed successfully.  In parallel we have initiated a programme to investigate upstream applications for MSAR^® in the country, commencing with a recent presentation by the Company to the Society of Petroleum Engineers Ecuador.

·    Mexico (Redliner & Freepoint Commodities) - Our principal activities in Mexico are with Redliner, who have been progressing opportunities with the national oil company and have successfully engaged with its stakeholders at very senior levels. However, as a result of delays in the receipt of essential information during the COVID-19 period, Quadrise has not been able to undertake the techno-economic study for multiple refineries as had been planned. Whilst this is frustrating, we continue to work with Redliner to progress activities as there is a clear economic rationale.  Most recently MSAR^® briefings have been presented directly by Redliner to the Energy Secretary and key Directors (Upstream and Refining) of the national oil company.

·    European Refiner - The client is comparing the economics of MSAR^® with another refinery solution to enable IMO 2020 compliant fuel supply; though the complex refinery testing that was due to be carried out during Q2 and Q3 2020 has not been completed because of COVID-19. We are awaiting clarification from the client as to when this evaluation work will be completed, though we expect this to be delayed to 2021

·    Nouryon - Following positive discussions with Nouryon regarding business collaboration opportunities between Quadrise, Nouryon and related companies within the Carlyle Group, Quadrise has continued to review the medium and long-term opportunities to leverage the strongly aligned interests of all participants. The Quadrise team has regular updates with Nouryon and expect to be moving these to physical meetings again during Q4 2020.

Marine Applications

·   We have continued to progress opportunities with two major shipping companies, each with large fleets and leading positions in scrubber implementation in their segments of the shipping industry. These discussions have continued with their technical, operational and senior management teams to progress MSAR^® Letter Of No Objection ("LONO") testing and we continue to work towards the goal of implementing joint development and trial agreements with the respective companies during 2020.

·    We have continued to evaluate the opportunity to establish or link with a physical bunker fuel supplier, to provide a supply network for high sulphur fuels in parallel with MSAR^® for the LONO testing opportunities we are seeking to progress. These have not progressed as rapidly as we initially hoped, as the bunker market has been adversely impacted by COVID-19. However, this is a market opportunity that we will continue to review, albeit it is not considered a high priority at this time.

Other

·    At this time there are no material updates to report on opportunities with the European Oil Major, activities in Kuwait, Merlin Energy Resources, Bitumina, API Poly-GCL, JGC or Maersk Line., though work is continuing as appropriate.

With the substantial funding put in place during 2019, we secured the  ability to pursue our business development activities through to mid-Q2 calendar year 2021. Since then we have made significant progress in several markets, which brings the Company much closer to being able to advance towards commercial revenues and profitability.  The QFI Board believes that the business development pipeline above provides the platform needed to deliver projects with commercial revenue potential, and we look forward to providing further updates on progress.

Live Investor Presentation

The Company is also pleased to announce that Mike Kirk, Chairman, and Jason Miles, CEO will provide a live investor presentation relating to the Business Update via the Investor Meet Company ("IMC") platform on Wednesday 9th September 2020 at 10.00 BST.

The Company is committed to ensuring that there are appropriate communication structures for all elements of its shareholder base so that its strategy, business model and performance are clearly understood:

·      The online presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders.

·     Questions can be submitted pre-event via your IMC dashboard or at any time during the live presentation via the "Ask a Question" function. Although the Company may not be in a position to answer every question it receives, it will address the most prominent within the confines of information already disclosed to the market. Responses to the Q&A from the live presentation will be published at the earliest opportunity on the Investor Meet Company platform.

·     Investor feedback can also be submitted directly to management post-event to ensure the Company can gather the views of its shareholder base.

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add Quadrise Fuels International plc via

https://www.investormeetcompany.com/quadrise-fuels-international-plc/register-investor

Investors who have already registered and added to meet the Company, will be invited automatically.

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

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 power generation, shipping, industrial and refining industries.