HUGE PROSPECT ON D1 OILS

D1 was originally established in 2002 to focus on the development of a portable refinery technology to produce biodiesel for the UK transport industry. During this period, it was concluded that the high cost of rape seed oil, the main feedstock for biodiesel production in Europe, renders its use commercially unattractive. As a result, D1 explored the economics, suitability and yields of a variety of specific energy crops. During 2003, jatropha curcas was identified as its feedstock of choice and the focus turned to securing output from jatropha plantations.

Jatropha was selected as D1's primary energy crop due to it's high productivity, durability and longevity. Jatropha trees can be grown on marginalised land and are durable to the elements. Furthermore, jatropha can grow in areas of minimal rainfall, although it grows better in areas of higher annual rainfall. Jatropha trees produce nuts, which contain oil, for an average of thirty years and generally have their first harvest within two years of planting. Biodiesel refined from jatropha oil complies with EN 14214, the current European standard for biodiesel. Biodiesel meeting EN 14121 specification is an approved blend when mixed with petroleum diesel.

D1 is now commercialising its D1 20 refinery able to produce eight million litres of biodiesel per annum and will utilise jatropha oil as its main feedstock. D1 believes it can maintain low production costs and produce consistent, high volume quality output through sourcing existing feedstock supplies, cultivating new yields of jatropha on existing plantations and setting up D1 20 refineries regionally. D1 is working with highly regarded agronomy and biotechnology research and development facilities in India and South East Asia and is participating in the establishment of nurseries in a variety of locations in the Asia Pacific region. These nurseries will test imported jatropha seeds against indigenous varieties to determine which will grow best under a region's climatic conditions. In addition, D1 has recently acquired the rights to a proprietary growing media which targets the specific nutritional requirements of jatropha.

The global market demand for biodiesel is growing. International energy and environmental policies have helped to create a demand for biodiesel which is estimated to reach at least 10.5 billion litres by 2010 in the European Union alone. Based on current capacity, feedstock availability and positioning in the market, the global production of biodiesel is expected to reach approximately
3 billion litres by 2010, less than one third of the projected demand in the European Union.

D1 Oils aims to become a global, sustainable, low cost producer of biodiesel and supplier of crude vegetable oil used in the production of biodiesel. To reach this objective, D1 will manage its operations regionally, securing plantation rights and establishing refinery operations in each region, thus controlling aspects of the supply chain from seed selection through to the sale of biodiesel to end customers.

To this end, D1 has established four regional operations:
UK (Teesside and London) South Africa (Johannesburg) Asia Pacific (Manila, the Philippines) and India (New Delhi).

DOO is dropping to 180p now.

It's dropping horribly - I'm not holding this currently but will again some time.

Today I noticed that both Black Rock and Merril Lynch have been steadily increasing their holding. Would they do this if it was going down the pan??

its just d1 volatlilty . Will end the day up

Wow...gone down further to 172p within minutes.

minimal volume

Too bad this is not feasible in China.


Biofuel not feasible as alternative auto fuel in China cars - expert
AFX

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - The processing of gasoline and diesel from crops is not a realistic alternative for China's growing fleet of cars, said Professor Ni Weidou, an energy expert at Beijing University.

At a seminar at Tsinghua University, Ni said that 50 mln tons of grain - a tenth of China's total output - would be required in order to produce only 10 mln tons of gasoline.

'China has only 7 pct of the world's arable land to feed 21 pct of the world's population, and it isn't realistic to develop biofuel on such a wide scale,' he said.

He said that China has to figure out a way of processing vehicle fuel from coal.

'Everyone says that we have to change our energy structure, but it isn't that we like coal, but we just have no choice,' Ni said. 'We have to change the structure but there's no way to do it.'

'There are only two countries that depend primarily on coal, China and India. Why do they happen to be the two most populous countries?' he said.

The number of cars on China's roads has risen rapidly in recent years, from just five per 1,000 people in 1991 to 39 last year, according to Dai Yande of the National Development and Reform Commission's Energy Research Institute.

david.stanway@xinhuafinance.com

DOO not reliant on grain crops though but jatropha which can grow in areas where grain does not prosper- so in short a bit bemused by Mr Ni Wiedu statement unless i miss something. (by the way not a holder as yet but thinking about it- got burned too often by "green" issues")

A recent report in New scientist suggest that the rate of Co2 output into the atmosphere is 35% higher than the worst IPCC estimates.

A recent article in the FT suggested a number of funds were to be created which concentrated on "near" technologies designed to tackle climate change.

As robinhood and others have pointed out D1 's ace in the hole is the Jatropha tree that dosn't compete with food stocks and can be grown in less fertile land. Combined with the work being done with KeyGene they appear to be able to extract more than double the yield of oil.

The recent JV with BP is also a positive development and there general ability to hit targets is impresseive especially in such a new immature industry.

In a recent interview available on the d1 website The Ceo indicates that they expect to start refining from their own stocks in 2008 (admittedley when isn't stated) but it isn't that far off.

The only -ve issue as far as I can see is cheap subsidised US imports. But given the EU's general anti US feeling I can't see the EU subsidy staying in place too long especially if it threatens the EU's industry in biofuels.


At 175p maybe this is a good time to at least stock up with a small holding ?

Which is incidentally what I have done .

D1 oils featured on channel 4 news today! Hear is the text of the article:

Biofuels are currently worth over $20bn worldwide, and are being heralded as a solution to the world's reliance on oil.

Jatropha has yet to be manufactured on a large commercial scale, but the special properties of this plant are attracting a lot of interest.

The claims are that this crop is drought tolerant, that it is resistant to pest and diseases; it does not need a lot of water to grow. Further, jatropha produces seeds and these seeds are very high in oil content.

After palm oil, jatropha seeds have the highest energy content of any crops. The challenge now is to turn their oil into a large scale source of energy for the world.

It's led to the cultivation of jatropha crops across vast swathes of countries from Africa to South-East Asia.

China is planting Jatropha and millions are being invested in its cultivation across India.

'Go and plant jatropha in the Queen of England's garden instead'
An Indian farmer

The Indian government has launched a national program to develop biofuels, with jatropha at the forefront. State governments are making land available for cultivation and attracting foreign investment.

But this national program to introduce jatropha is not popular with everyone.

In Jaipur, local farmers are protesting against the governments land policies. These include turning wasteland over to jatropha for cultivation. The farmers claim this is land they currently farm for food.

Why are you spoiling our crops, one asks. Go and plant jatropha in the Queen of England's garden instead.

In Delhi the protestors' complaints are echoed by Dr Suman Sahai, an agricultural expert who campaigns for the protection of India's biological resources.

Increasingly both Indian and western businesses are being attracted to the potential wonder plant

Middlesbrough-based D1 Oils has been in the biofuels business for five years. They first floated their company on the Alternative Investment Market in 2004 - and have raised 86m from investors, thanks largely to their involvement in Jatropha.

And now the big oil companies are moving in.

D1 Oils hit payday earlier this year, signing a joint venture with BP worth 80m, the world's biggest deal involving biofuel made from Jatropha.

But back in India, D1 Oils has found itself tangled up in a dispute involving new laws designed to protect India's bio-resources and tackle the emerging problem of bio-piracy.

Under these laws, foreign access to potentially lucrative natural resources, like jatropha, is closely regulated.

Two years ago, it's claimed, a university scientist called Dr Sunil Puri arranged for a valuable variety of jatropha to be transferred from the university to a nearby D1 site without the necessary permission from the authorities.

When it became public, the incident was investigated by the state government. A report has concluded that by accepting these plants, D1 has breached India's biodiversity laws. They are one of the first multinationals to face claims of breaching these new laws.

As a result, India's National Biodiversity Authority recently blocked an application by D1 Oils Plc to continue research and development with jatropha in India.

In response to Channel4News, D1 and the scientist denied breaking any laws and denied that the plants were valuable.

D1 also said it had not exploited the jatropha in any way. It said it had acted in good faith and allowed the jatropha to enter its site only at the request of the university. It also claimed that the onus was on the university to secure appropriate permissions.

Interesting points to consider.... I think this article could give d1 oils a good lift tomorrow. But what do people make of the last part of the article, with D1 oils in trouble with the Indian government

IMO its in India's interests to be seen to be attracting inward investment. The skills and knowledge of D1 would be vital in helping to secure its economy in the ever increasing energy sector.

I'd guess that the Indian authorities would see the bigger picture and realise the importance of establishing inward investment in such an important future industry.

As far farmers complaining of land being diverted from food crops. In some cases this may well be the case, but realising an income stream from relatively infertile land may win them round.

One last point D1 has rights to plant in several countries. India dosn't exactly have them over a barrel.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7065061.stm

Just saw this article. The more voices that are raised against using food crops for producing biofuels, the more D1 has to gain and the more valuable its technology becomes.

Check out

http://environment.newscientist.com/article/mg19626273.900-depleting-oil-supplies-threaten-meltdown-in-society.html

very interesting to read that UBS hold 15.94% here ...... seems an awful lot for an investment fund to hold unless they are (hopefully!) being used as a vehicle for a predator ...... too long odds i fear!!

DOO has fallen quite considerably over the past fortnight.

truly horrid performance

DOO showing weakness again. I am tempted to short it.

Are you still hanging to DOO, cynic or is this a buying opportunity?

i am a damn fool as i still hold ..... not entirely sure why the great fall from favour, but could not possibly recommend anyone to buy, though in the long run, this could prove to be an ace time to invest

I really don't know as this could be an opportunity or it could be like GTL or RVA.