Quadrise (LSE:QED) — Post-AGM Investor Update and Q&A

0:01 Good afternoon, and welcome to the QUADRISE PLC post AGM investor update and Q and A. Throughout this recorded presentation, attendees will be in listen only mode. As stated in the notice of AGM, investors have the ability to pre submit questions ahead of today's AGM, and the company will be taking quest taking questions from those attending in person today. The company will seek to answer as many of those questions as possible. However, no further questions can be submitted online. I'd now like to hand you over to Jason Mowell, CEO. Good afternoon, sir.

0:32 Yeah. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Hello to everyone in the room. I see some friendly faces again. And hello to everyone on the estimate company platform as well. I'm going take you through a presentation today, a very brief intro in terms of what we do for those shareholders who want a little bit of a briefing about our business, and then I'll take you through an update in terms of the projects, a little bit about ESG, and then followed by then a question and answer session for those of you in the room. And there were some pre submitted questions as well, which if you have time, we can definitely answer as well. And if not, those questions would be made available and answered on the Investor Me Company platform. So without further ado, I'll take you into the disclaimer, which you can read at your leisure.

1:17 This presentation will be available online as well on our website after the presentation. So you can take, obviously, a copy of that and ask further questions via investor relations should you wish. So just in terms of what we do as a company, we have a technology that really sits in a number of different energy spaces. The technology is designed to really blend heavy oils with the water to make essentially a cheaper fuel, which has also got clean much better emissions than existing fuels and burns in a better way. So I can tell you a little bit about that in the context of the projects that we're working on as well. The technology itself can fit in refineries and terminals.

2:03 But by the same token, we also have developed a new derivation of that tunnel, which you can actually go into marine vessels and also potentially sit in power stations as well to essentially produce a fuel that has much better efficiency in the diesel engine, which is important to reduce CO2 emissions. So our we're involved in a number of different sectors, which is that's certainly an area where we have to spend a lot of time making sure we're educating different markets. So obviously, with Phil Hill, he joined the company this year, and the team, we're having to brief a lot of different market sectors in terms of what we're doing. So we're involved in, obviously, refinery space, we're involved in the marine space, and also, obviously, in power and utilities as well and industrials, plus there's an upstream application as well with one of our projects, which we can tell you about.

2:59 So what we do is essentially we have a NutriBullet for fuels. We can essentially blend very heavy oil streams into with water to produce a lower viscosity fuel, which behaves much like fuel oil, so it can be used in existing infrastructure. We deploy it very quickly at low cost compared to other technologies. And the interesting part now is also we're bringing into that mix various different biofuels starting with glycerin, but obviously then we're looking at some other future fuels as well, including sugars as well. But we've got two main products we're marketing and looking to trial in our projects this year. EmSar, which is a seventy-thirty blend of oil and water and then BioEmSar, which is a blend of around 50% hydrocarbon, 40% glycerin and 10% of water, all of which is some additives through our agreement with Neurion, which is recently refreshed for another three years.

3:52 And the attraction is really cleaner fuel, cheaper fuel, much safer to use than compared with some of the future fuels that are coming through and even existing fuels and immediately scalable. And that's really the attraction of the technology for some of our clients. And again, there's more information on our website. And if you just ask any questions, again, via IR or info, I'm happy to answer those.

4:23 So in terms of what's happening in the world, and this is a very complicated slide, which I'm not going to keep talk through the text, but there's a lot of pressure now for companies to companies and industries in the sectors with which we work to try and contribute to this reduction in, obviously, global warming temperatures. This 1.5 degree trajectory is quite an ambitious target to meet. And what's happening is a lot of new regulations are coming in to the sectors that we're working in. This is marine as an example, where there's a number of different things coming in, both at a country level but also a regional level, and then with through the IMO, more of an international level. Some of these things are still work in progress, but companies are realizing that they need to do something very quickly now to try and comply with regulations which are coming in with the expectation that we potentially tax on CO2 emissions in the future.

5:22 So the areas in green are really the touch points in terms of where we see our technology fit. There's an immediate, obviously, need to reduce CO2 emissions today, which can be met with MSR, but also through the use of bio MSR as well or a hybrid of them in between, because we can blend different levels of glycerin, we can achieve we can help companies achieve meeting those targets as they get more and more stringent over time.

5:51 And industry are responding. I mean, there's definitely we sat in a presentation in Geneva with MSC where they very eloquently basically demonstrated what they're doing to some of their vessels to try and reduce the CO2 emissions. Basically, they want to do is reduce their fuel consumption. They're changing the bow design. They're putting they're de rating the engines. They're putting bigger propellers on. Obviously, not for container ships, but some of the other bulk of sector are looking at sales on vessels as well. So there's a number of different technologies going in, including fleet optimization, to reduce the CO2 emissions and make basically the existing fleet on the sea more and more efficient. And again, the areas in green are really touch points where we see our technology as one of the solutions. There are a number of solutions going out there, so we're not the silver bullet for everyone, but there's certainly a lot of interest for people to actually try the technology out now, which is which is a good thing.

7:00 And there's lots of talk about some of these green fuel solutions. We've seen a variation in this slide before. Some of you will have done if you've seen some of the QUADRISE presentations. But there's an aspiration to switch everything across to green fuels, which are really fuels that are derived from renewable energy. These types of fuels require a huge amount of renewable energy. To give an example, Maersk's aspirations for methanol on their vessels would mean that they need to double their renewable capacity in the whole of Denmark to supply it. So some of these aspiration some of these things are they will be achievable eventually, but it's going to take a long time. And there's also fuels that are being introduced, such as ammonia, which have, I guess, some questionable issues around safety as well. So there's no big red button to there's a number of solutions basically that we believe will be applied to meet net zero.

7:58 And really, the simple stuff is not getting the attention it deserves, and that's really why myself and others in the industry are spending time and these conferences educating the various different stakeholders that simple solutions are there. And I think we definitely think we're winning that battle, obviously. We can tell you about the work we're doing with MSC. We're also doing work behind the scenes. We never sort of rest on our laurels in terms of what we're doing. Our RDI department in Essex is very busy on looking at future fuel solutions as well, expanding what we're doing with BioEmSAR, but also looking at some of the other ways of fully decarbonizing or having a fully net zero biofuel as well. And we're making some good progress on that.

8:48 And really, what we've done during the last year is make sure that everybody in the company fully understands and buys into what we're doing. So we've looked at the purpose of the company, what drives each of us as individuals and how collectively that fits for the company, and then in terms of our mission, our priorities going forward, and what we can do to actually make a change for the planners as well. So we we really believe we're doing a good thing within QUADRISE. So we see that needs to then translate into projects and cash flow, which is obviously the next point of the presentation in terms of what we're doing. So the first project we're working on is with MSC.

9:36 MSC have signed a framework agreement with us in July of this year. It took a little bit longer than we would have liked just because they're in the process of buying the test vessel of Seago lines, which is the vessel that we're going to be using. So in advance of that, we kicked off some work with with Vartsila, which is which is very close to completion now. We should expect results through from the Vartsila testing sort of next month. And I was in Italy last last week, and it was going according to plan. So we're getting some good results with BioWem Solver, which we fully expected, but Vartsila needs to do the testing. The test vessel is pretty much there. There's some minor bits of equipment that need replacing with a fuel system that's on board.

10:25 And then at the moment, we're just looking to try and get the fuel supply set up and running, which is taking a little bit longer than we would have liked because it's involving multiple stakeholders and fairly large companies with multiple business entities within that. So it's taking quite a bit of time to get that done, which is a bit frustrating. We would like to have signed agreements by now, but we're not there yet. But we're still planning for the first half of next year to be up and running with a proof of concept testing. And then we'll then switch to the operational trial on BioEmSAR to really run that vessel for a full four thousand hours at the midway point, an interim inspection, and then we expect that we can start the commercial discussions on bioemstar supply and indeed the supply of emstar, which has already got the interim loaner on that engine type.

11:21 In terms of Morocco, we have everything now delivered in Morocco. Just getting everything through customs is doing a little bit longer than we would have liked. Brexit certainly hasn't helped in that regard, but we are winning that battle. And we expect the trial to be underway and completed before the end of the year, which is a little bit later than we said, but unfortunately, it's taken a little bit of time to get new fuel through the customs process in

11:52 Morocco, which is quite bureaucratic at times. The customer has been very supportive in helping us out, and we're very keen, obviously, to get the trial on MSAR and bio MSAR completed at Site B, which will then enable us to then have discussions about fuel supply subject to positive results the first half of next year and the early part of the first half. So as soon as we get decent results and get that report across to the client, then we expect to kick off those discussions. So the team are basically ready to go. We're just waiting to get the fuel delivered to the site itself from Casablanca. Oh, I've pressed the wrong button here. Apologies.

12:40 Got it back, Mark. In Valcor, we've been waiting a little bit for them to get the drilling underway, which we believe has started. In the meantime, we've been preparing supply agreements for the supply of a unit to their site. Valcor are basically responsible for a number of projects

13:01 in the Utah, the Winter Basin. And basically, there's a good chance that we'll have a system installed next year, at the beginning of next year. So we're just papering up the supply agreement at the moment and obviously negotiating terms with Valcor. We're also waiting to get the some newer samples from the drilling campaign that is underway at the moment. Some of the samples we got were not as clean as it will be when they start the drilling campaign. So we should have some decent samples, some decent assays, which would make life much easier for us. The intention behind this ultimately initially is local use, but the bigger prize is to get it to the marine fuel market in the Port Of LA and Houston as a lower sulfur or as a low sulfur, but low carbon marine fuel. That's really the big prize. It gives them the possibility to get a premium over WTI for the crude oil.

14:02 And for us, it gives a low carbon or lower carbon feedstock as an alternative for the marine fuel industry with the ability to then also incorporate the Bioemcel blend, so the glycerin blend as well. So yeah, that's a very exciting project for us and one where we expect to get a system on the ground quite quickly.

14:23 And then in The Americas, we're in discussions with multiple entities in Panama and also in Honduras that run four stroke and two stroke power plants. Lots of pressure at the moment in the region in general in terms of looking at alternatives or going back to alternatives versus LNG because, obviously, the cost of LNGs and the availability of LNG has become quite an issue for some of these power plants. A lot of them thinking this is LNG was the future, but obviously, there's some ripples there given what's happened in Russia and Ukraine and the European demand for LNG. So we're working on various different projects there, looking to get at least one letter of intent and trial agreement done, ideally before the end of the year, but if not beginning of next, with a view to then get a site trial on one or more sites in Panama.

15:20 The idea there would actually potentially be a blend on board solution. So we'll send an emulsion plant over, demonstrate that they can emulsify fuel oils to get better efficiency and then switch the commercial then to the commercial supply on MSR. So that gives us a little bit of a faster track without necessarily getting a refinery on board initially. Having said that, we are in discussions with a number of refineries in the region as well, one of which based in The Caribbean to potentially supply the fuel in the future as well based on a heavier resid. In terms of where we are in terms of human resources, obviously, Phil joined us at the beginning of the year. Andy joined us in February.

16:06 The QUADRISE team itself, you know, we have we have recently been recruiting, some of which is to replace existing people, some of which to bolster the operations team as well.

16:17 And the cash resources are basically, obviously, you've seen before in terms of the annual results, there's obviously there's no change there. The spending itself and everything else has been in line with those. Look at David. He looks after the cash, but he's in line with the expectations there, so no surprises.

16:38 We've done quite a bit of work on our ESG strategy this year as well. For us, it's in I guess, it it may seem for me externally as a as a waste of our time. I've seen some of the criticism, you know, that's been put on the bulletin boards. We're dealing with some very big companies. It's really important for those companies to fully believe in what we're doing. And for us to do that, we need to quantify very carefully from a life cycle analysis to bio MSR through to, you know, us as a company, we need to quantify what we're doing. The sustainability report that we launched this year, we know it's been a great team effort for us. It's been a very good way of really quantifying what we're doing.

17:27 We'll then develop that in terms of then bringing in scope three emissions, which is obviously the emissions that are external to the company, and then also scope four emissions, which is really an interesting one in terms of how much emissions we can save

17:40 for our clients as well. So we obviously get credit for that in terms of scope for emissions. We contracted a company called EcoAct to do that exercise with us as well. And we brought in a consultant, Vicky Boyton Lee, who's been very good at putting all this information together, taking a lot the workload off myself and David. So she's been doing a lot of the hard yards as well. And we're very proud of the report, which stands muster in terms of some of the people that we're dealing with externally as well, and I think it's a great advertisement actually for QUADRISE, albeit these things all take time to do, but you can't develop our business and do what we're doing without having a sustainability report as a company.

18:28 It's just impossible to deal with some fairly large players.

18:32 So we have we've fully defined our scope one and two emissions this year as part of the sustainability report. Scope three will be included next year. And then, obviously, we're then looking we're looking to reduce our emissions as we go along. So obviously, we have targets of reducing our, obviously, our carbon intensity, scope one and two, and also electricity consumption, which should be eminently doable with what we're doing at the moment. As part of our 2030 target for a net zero product, we want to be net zero for the company as well. The company itself wants to be has an intention to be fully net zero. So that's fully aligned with us as a company, which I think is certainly viewed very well externally for the people I've been speaking to who've sort of given quite a high praise in terms of the quality of the output of what we're doing.

19:23 And it's fully embedded in terms of our remuneration as well, our targets. The company is aligned in terms of making sure we meet these ESG goals. So that obviously influences what we do as well going forward, which is important, for sure.

19:43 And really, we're grounded. Rather than just paying for offsets. We're grounded in really trying to avoid producing unnecessary energy, essentially reducing our emissions where we can. And then if we need to at the end, then we'll compensate if we have to. But these are our priorities really to avoid and reduce initially our emissions. And some of the actions that we're doing in this space, they definitely they resound with the clients that we're working with. So with people like MSC, the big attraction for them is bio MSR, and then obviously gives them a higher efficiency reduction in CO2 emissions as well. But the bio MCR alternative is definitely one of the things that they're very happy to put their name against and push forward, which is very, very helpful.

20:36 Obviously, Nurion, again, they're fully embedded in decarbonization

20:41 as well as a large company. So that definitely helps that long term relationship we have with them. And it's bringing in companies such as Votaro into the mix as well, where companies are seeing what we're doing and realizing that we have a technology that fits quite nicely with the product that they're supplying. So with all of these things, ESG is actually becoming a pretty good bedrock for the company as well. So we're pretty proud of what we've done so far. Obviously, some work to do. Yeah, the important thing now is delivering on the projects, which I know I'm sure you've got some questions on as well. So that's, I think, the end of our presentation. So we've got now a session on Q and A. So happy to take questions from the room. That's great, Jason. Thank you very much. And just to remind the other board members, there is a microphone on your table should you be called upon for questions. Thank you, sir.

21:36 Hello, Jason. Thank you for that presentation. Lionel Thane, long term shareholder. 46 Gillian and known on the boards. We personally, I was absolutely delighted nearly two years ago when you did your last funding that we finally got two institutions to become significant shareholders.

21:57 I've got two questions. One, what's gone wrong with that with the relationship? As I understand it, they've been selling down, one of them particularly Premier, an awful lot of stock, which has held back the share price. It may not have gone up, but it's certainly not done any good to the share price. And secondly, there's a proliferation of green investment institutional companies in the marketplace. Are you doing anything behind the scenes to try long term to attract them or let them know what you're up to? Because I feel there seems to be a complete lack of institutional support above 3% for the company. That's the question. Yeah. Thanks, Lionel. Both very, very good questions. I think it's fairly obvious what's happened in terms of the institutional shareholders that we have. I mean, we're not the only company that Premier Mitel and Canaccord have invested in where they've had to sell down. Right? The reality is that because of what's happened in Russia and the state of the markets in general, funds have had redemptions that they need to find cash for immediately.

23:05 So the reality is that QUADRISE, unfortunately, has a pretty good liquidity. And despite what they think of the value of the stock over a long term basis, they have redemptions that they need to look after.

23:19 So we've been, unfortunately, been a victim, we believe, of that. There's been nothing we've done in terms of relationship has poisoned that relationship. In many ways, we've kept both those entities very much up to date with what we're doing. They've been happy with what we're doing. We've met the targets that they set as well. But unfortunately, the markets themselves have been not helpful in that regard and so we've lost those institutions. Coming up back to your other point about ESG investment funds, we are in contact with some of those on a regular basis through Shore Capital, who have done a good job in making sure that when we're doing things like our annual results and our road show and we have a road show after the annual results, as an example, some of those companies that we spoke with are actually ESG type investors. And that's where the sustainability report is quite helpful as well because it it really, you know, you can hand something to somebody and say, this is

24:22 really what we're doing. We're really serious about this, and, you know, this is the whole company's bought into it. So it's a helpful platform. But that that those discussions are ongoing. And obviously, the work that we're doing on the ground in terms of the projects are also important as well to make sure we have revenue in place, will tick another box for certain funds as well. So I think still work in progress, but I think we're doing a decent job to try and to turn to now attract some of the ESG money as well. Thank you. Ian James, many AGMs ago, I can't remember what year. You have to appreciate that some of your long term shareholders are prone to memory loss these days.

25:14 Ian Williams made a specific point of talking about the Maersk loano, and he was very clear that he saw it not as a trial, but as the start of a commercial rollout. How do MSC view the current loan o? Yeah. Good question. I think they see it in the same way. I mean, they're not offering a trial just to do this for fun. They see this as an opportunity to basically roll this out, both for bioemSAR and MSAR. And they're putting their reputation on the line as well to some degree. So the CEO of the container division

25:55 in Cyprus is willing to sit on the stage next to me and promote the project really for our benefit, also for them. They see it as a genuine pathway for them to reduce carbon emissions on their vessels and reduce emissions in general as well as saving having a project which basically pays for itself. So it's certainly part of a commercial pathway as opposed to just a trial. But obviously, the commercial terms are really only valid once we get to the midway point for bio MSR as well. I think then we've got both fuels in the interim low no stage, and there will be comfort then in terms of what we're doing. But as we go along and as we get the data in from the project and as from the testing

26:37 we're doing as well, such as the work that's been done in Vazoda in Italy where I was there a few weeks ago, that all helps in terms of cementing what we've said to them and actually demonstrating results, which have obviously been testing has been done by third parties there. So they're getting good reports back in terms of what's going on as well. Mark, I'm a private shareholder. So on Morocco, Brexit trade barriers for physical goods have been well known since the EU trade deals fell away. Why was QFI not prepared for that, and how will that be prevented and avoided in future?

27:21 And as a second part to that, something I've suggested previously and was battered away is production in country with a directly controlled QFI team, even hiring someone in country so that they're direct employees of of our company to mitigate some of this risk relating to access to the country, customs, all this kind of stuff. I hope that's something that can be reconsidered. In specifically to to Morocco, Mark? Or Yes. Anyway. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. I mean, Morocco is an interesting case in point. I think if we were importing general goods, things where a customs code is known and specific, then it makes life a lot easier. But when you're doing things for the first time as a company, we've been using different shipping agents for different deliveries, as an example, which has caused some complication.

28:21 Some of these things are known, but because we're doing things for the first time in Morocco, sometimes to get the paperwork in place, it takes a little bit longer. The good thing is that once now it's done, then we won't have to go through that headache anymore. All of the documentation is there and the pathway is there to speed up what we're doing in the future.

28:41 So it's been a bit painful, I have to say, getting stuff through customs this time around. And it's been different to when we did the trial back in, cocky, 2020 as well. It's certainly been a little bit more challenging to get larger quantities through. But yes, it's done now. And we have the paperwork is pretty much in place now. So then it'd be very, very useful going forward so that it should be a lot quicker. In terms of production in country, it's an interesting case in point. I think the problem being that just the quality control is an area where we're still very picky about. It's not a technology yet that we can hand over to a third party and remotely tell them how to make the fuel. We're still pretty careful about how the fuel manufacturer is done, which is why we're in control of what we're doing, especially for trials, which is so critical.

29:37 So we have been quite careful about that. But yes, it's a good point. In the future, could we have in country manufacture of MSAR, for instance, or bio MSAR potentially,

29:50 low cost hydrocarbon and import the bitumen, then potentially we could do blending in Morocco in the future. That is an area that we have thoughts about. But for trials, it's still quite tricky to really hand over to a third party at the moment. PLC: Bob Sharp, very long term holder. This relates to the resolutions that Andy got us all yes for. You'll have to forgive my memory because I can't remember the exact dates, but Mike Kirk's last placing.

30:32 Existing shareholders were compensated as of many previous occasions with an open offer, which like every other open offer that I can remember was oversubscribed. Now the situation that was created last time was, for example, one person I know personally had a £30,000 request in that open offer and got the dribbling like the rest of us. The open offers are supposed, as I understand it, to protect long term holders from dilution, but they don't because we can't buy enough in them. Now the other side of this coin is rather obvious. If you wave away 2 to 4,000,000 like that that happened then, you shorten the runway for the company, the cash runway for the company. And I unless there's some legal thing I don't understand, I don't know why it happens, and it's happened over and over again.

31:24 So that's my question. What are you gonna do about it?

31:28 I I guess we have to be cognizant of of demand. I I think the concern in the past, you know, gentlemen, please please join me in this because, you know, it's always a bit of a a conundrum in terms of what what the pot is for the open offer. We're we're deliberately not trying to constrain it, but by the same token, we don't wanna make it too big so it's so it's become a perceived failure that we didn't get what we asked for as well. So there's two ends of the spectrum. We've probably gone the wrong way in terms of the minimum, so we were overcautious. I mean, you know, we were quite we were delighted by the I guess by the actual demand in the retail market and regretted the opportunity for people not to take up their larger quantities, if I'm honest. But we made a mistake, but we'll be cognizant if we ever have to do that again. QUADRISE PLC: Can you not stitch in some molestability to the open offer?

32:21 Feel a little vague like when when I challenged Ian Williams not to raise 8,000,000 but to raise 10 that many years ago and he did he he was oversubscribed even at the 10 you know so it's just ridiculous to give away free money. I think the point you made is well is well made. I think, you know, it's really important for us to bring shareholders with us. Our shareholder register has evolved. We you know, one of the earlier questions we we had, we talked about the institutional investors. And so we are we we've become very much owned by retail investors. And retail investors are consistently saying what you'll say, which is that we wanna support the company. And so, you know, I I don't wanna tie our hands because, you know, in terms of what we what we're gonna what we would do in the future, but we we we we will take the shareholders with us as best we can on this. Because it because everyone's, Yeah. It need needs to see a return for the the the the the patience that they've and and much they've invested.

33:25 Patience is nothing to say. Okay. Hi, guys. David Duffy, shareholder. Just based on the presentation from earlier on, my understanding is that, obviously, funding would be required in 2023. So with the delays and the installation time for the MMUs at the refinery for the, MSC project, that'll obviously push back any commercial contracts. So in my eyes, the only commercial contracts that I can see coming in the near future is gonna be for Morocco. So I suppose my my major concern is that, you know, we've had delays in the past.

34:10 You know, quarter quarter one becomes half half one, half one becomes half two, and then, you know, calendar year becomes financial year. But, like, at this stage, the Morocco project needs to be completed and the contracts in place in order to have a fundraising because the terms of a fundraising are gonna be completely different if you have a company with commercial revenues compared to a company with projects that aren't commercially viable yet. So I just wanna stress the point. I know there's a lot going on with the company, but the Morocco project needs to be a priority in order to get those commercial contracts in place. So if there is a fundraising, then at least it's on terms that are better for shareholders than currently are. I think that's a very valid point. And, you know, it's we certainly see the Morocco project as one of the early deliveries in terms of commercial revenue.

35:03 We shouldn't forget Valkor as well. Certainly, if can get a unit supplied there as well, that provides us with sales revenue for the unit as well at the very least, which obviously helps our cash flow position. The operation of that unit, obviously, then it needs to be delivered in terms of various different trials, etcetera. But yeah, between Morocco and Valkor, they're the early deliveries of the in terms of cash flow. The other projects in The Americas as well, let's see how they develop in terms of an opportunity, maybe late certainly trials at the beginning of year with supplies at the second half of the year. But these Philips will help our cash flow position. If there have been delays, there have been delays in the MSC project, that sort of delayed some of our expenditure as well that we planned as well. That something that helps, but it obviously, we wanna deliver that project sooner rather than later. So yeah. But noted that that, you know, the delays are are frustrating, and they're frustrating for us as well.

36:03 You know? So, you know, we'd love to finally deliver commercial revenue for the company this year. And I think we, you know, we we we we're all in shelters. We're kind of in this together. We can see pretty much where we are. You can see it from you can see it in the financial results. And it's all about getting runs on the board, before the money gets dangerously low. And that's what we've been trying to do. And that's why we've been working this year to really put, some stress on the on on the projects and our partners. So are you gonna do this or aren't you? And and they've each come back and said, yes. We are gonna do it, and this is why we're we're we're at why we're doubling down on this. But they but, you know, we're all as I said, we're all in this together. We have to get someone on the board before money runs out, and and that's what we're we're doing. I and I think, you know, you you can hear, hopefully, from the way we express ourselves these days that we're confident that we can that we can do that.

36:57 Yeah. James Garrove, like most of the people here, very, very long term shareholder. Seems like an attorney. Bob, yeah, be be careful what you wish for. I think with those those things came with, 7.5p warrants, and we haven't seen anything close to that. My two questions really I see a little bit of a bottleneck possibly happening. One is the site preparations for fuel or finding a refinery. If we're going by the time it takes these long, say, MSC or Maersk, it it takes years. And so I'd be interested to know how far we are down the road in finding a refinery to to make sufficient quantities of fuel.

37:49 And the second is, we're hedging on Valkor, and I would like to know what kind of due diligence, we've done as a company to make sure they've got enough money to actually drill properly and carry on an aggressive program. Otherwise, again, there's a bottleneck. We send send an MAMU, and and it's kind of, you know, it doesn't do too much if there's not an aggressive program going on. QUADRISE Yeah. Good questions. In terms of the availability of a refinery or a refiner to supply the volumes that we need, we're certainly talking with counterparties at the moment who certainly have that capacity. The issue is with these larger entities is just how quickly they move relative to how quickly we want them to move.

38:39 So in terms of delivering the trial, we're looking at ways of shortcutting that so we don't actually have to rely necessarily on refinery. We can actually do the blending in the terminal, which is attractive for us because that can be done much quicker if the infrastructure is there. So that sort of shortcuts a little bit the timetable to get things done with CEPSA. We were in a refinery. It took nine months to get up and running. Within the terminal, it should be quicker. But we still need to get those agreements done. So I fully understand your frustration. In terms of volume, that's not an issue. There's no constraint in terms of availability of high or low sulfur feedstocks in the market. And with the counterparties that we're dealing with, that's not an issue either.

39:26 Both in terms of hydrocarbon is also it's important to stress also on the glycerin side as well. We're talking with other with various different suppliers there. At the moment, there's definitely availability of that type of material in the marketplace at the price that we expect it to be as well to support the commercial position. Coming back to your observations in terms of Valkor, obviously, terms of DD, you've got to look at them. You've also got to look at some of the counterparties that might be putting up the money together with them as well. Some of those are quite fairly large entities, actually, in terms of high net worth individuals. So we wouldn't deploy one of our MMUs on-site if we didn't get paid for it, frankly speaking. So we need to make sure that that contract is in place such that we get commercial revenues for ourselves in terms of supply of the first license in Utah with a view to then additional licenses thereafter.

40:27 But, yeah, good points, James. Hello, Justin. My name is Ian Brown, and I'm a long term shareholder. I wanna ask you a question about the, about the timelines. I read the the RNS this morning, and it was with sense of deja vu all over again in that q one becomes q '2 and q three becomes q three next year to follow on from David's comment. What's different this time? Why why should we believe what we're being told in this presentation when previous presentations in previous years, it hasn't come to pass? Yeah. I mean, fair criticism, Ian. In terms of Morocco as an example, let's take Morocco. You know, we literally have the fuel sitting there in Morocco about to go. The the trial team are ready ready to be deployed. So I'd love to have been here saying the trial's ongoing or it's even been done at this moment in time. That hasn't happened, unfortunately, but it's We can sort of taste it.

41:30 So we expect that to be done before the end of the year. So that one project, obviously, that's a milestone that then is completed, obviously, hopefully successfully, which we fully expect. And then we can have those discussions in Q1 of next year. And with Valkor, again, we've waiting sort of quite a long time for their drilling permits to get done. So that seems they seem to be making some good progress there in terms of getting that underway, which will initiate the flow of oil, which is really what's needed in the longer term. Having said that, there's a project already available in the short term where oil is flowing and can provide sort of trial volumes of fuel, which is where the unit could be deployed. So those two are definites. The MSC one, we've been a little bit more conservative in time tables just because of the time it's taking to get some fairly large entities up and running in terms of delivering fuel for the MSC program.

42:29 That's one where now, myself and Phil, on a regular basis are having to steward many cats to make things happen in the timetable available, together with bringing in the client MSC who are very keen, obviously, on getting the trial underway. So we're using those levers as much as we can. But until we have a definite definitive project there, we can't be clear on the timetable, which I know is frustrating for shareholders. But yes, that's the reality at the moment with MSC. One of the reasons to believe why it's different is that in case of Morocco and MSC, the projects have moved from being part of an sort of innovation group and isn't wouldn't this be a great idea into it's now an operational project.

43:17 And the operational managers who've got to produce the p and l, if you like, are now are now getting involved in the in in the businesses and investing serious amounts of time and money into them. So I think we're start starting to see the customers commit real resources, and that's why it's different from before. Yeah. I mean The point is the whole MSC thing revolves around the refinery. And it was when I maybe I misunderstood the wording this morning in the r and s, but it's are just are commencing with refineries. But this MSC joint venture is is dates back to 2020.

44:03 So I would have thought that the discussions with the refineries would have been a lot more advanced than they appear to be. Is that is that the case? Did I misunderstand? Do you want to answer that or do want me to? Yeah. Well, the the discussions with the refineries do predate the agreement. But, obviously, until the the the framework agreement was in place, that's when it becomes a serious contract between ourselves and MSC, and then their suppliers need to come into line or decide whether they want to come on board or not, and that's the reality. So it took a little bit of time to get the agreement signed. I mean, coming back to Andy's point about the commitment, I mean, MSC specifically bought that vessel because they knew it had the MSOCK kit on board, right? So that demonstrates some commitment to MSC behind the program.

44:51 But then some of the entities we're dealing with, they're just very large entities that don't move as quickly as we would like, and that's been the frustrating part so far. But in terms of interest from your various different counterparties, those discussions have been ongoing since the middle of the year to the point where, you know, getting samples delivered to the site, etcetera, for for testing. To my expectations of the private shareholders in the room, should we already add on six months to the time scales that we're being advised of today? Should we just condition ourselves that we're going to be in this position next year and it's gonna be q one twenty four? I guess I can't tell you what to do yourself, right? I mean, all I can do is say to you that the Morocco trial is underway.

45:45 Will assuming that's a success, then that will lead to a commercial discussion with the counterparty, which we will aim to try and get that signed off and equipment installed in a refinery incident by Morocco. So that's the trigger point for us. That's one of them. Again, some money out of VELCORE for the Utah project would be and their partners will help us as well in terms of moving that project along. MSC, say, it's harder to be specific about timetables until we know exactly what the project looks like. And we're in the middle of those discussions at the moment. Alongside downside risks, which is what you're talking about there, there are also quite a lot of upside opportunities, in fact. And so there's things which we could surprise to the upside. So will will the future pan out exactly as we've written on the slides here? Probably not.

46:44 But could it be better? Yes. It could be. Could it be worse? Yes. It could be. But I I mean, what we've given is a very fair reflection, think, what we've tried to to shareholders as to where we think it's gonna where where we where we think it's gonna be. And, you know, we've got I think we can all see we've got a huge opportunity here. And you I mean, you've known that as a shareholder much longer than I have. It is a vast opportunity. If we can if we can grab it, then we'll be in we'll be in good shape, and that's what we're about. Thank you. Another long term shareholder. It's as much a point as a question, and it's on the same theme as Ian's and Dave's over there.

47:31 The topic we're just talking about is about the timelines, expectations of shareholders. And I think when you get talking about a specific project, you know, we kinda get bogged down in the detail as to why x and y hasn't happened. I would like to put to the board a more general view of things and say that in the last ten years, I've been looking at timelines that get updated three or four times a year. I don't think I can recall a single target that's been met in that time at all ever. So my point to you is that perhaps perhaps there's a problem with ethos with overpromising, with being too aggressive because shareholders take you out your word. And what happens is over the years, bit by bit, our confidence in you deteriorates.

48:23 Your credibility in other eyes diminishes. And it's got to the point with today's announcement where I'm pretty sure across the country, people are throwing things at their computer screens saying, again? Really? You know? So I know you can't speed things along any faster than they're going. We all get that. So my point to you really is, can you not be less aggressive in your timelines? Be a little bit more open with us, Dubai to explain to us. Here's our target, we might not reach it because of x or y. Instead of saying, for example, trials underway by the end of December twenty twenty two for the proof of concept, whereas the update today might take it as late as, you know, June 2023.

49:13 I mean, that's a massive slippage. In our heads, it's it's a big, big deal. So really, if you just comment on that point generally, if you accept the general point I'm making and perhaps as a board and staff, look at ways of giving us more realistic timelines that we can buy into and understand, give us more information because that helps us. Thank you. Do you wanna comment at all on that? I I think, you know, Hamish makes, you know, makes a very valid valid point. You know, in terms of some of the things that some of the things that we're doing and the the counterparties that we're dealing with, obviously, you know, we have they're telling us sometimes it's based on what they're telling us in terms in terms of timelines. Right? So, you know, we are we're reporting on what we've got available to hand to actually and because if we, for instance, if we, you know, MSC want a trial done Q1 of this year, let's say, or next year, and they're basically getting everything ready for that internally, then that's the date in their mind.

50:14 Now if as part of that trial, the fuel supply is not ready, that's sort of outside of their hands. If we so if we were to go to market and say, okay, well, we think the vessel will be ready by the beginning of Q1, but there's no way we'll get the fuel supply in line because we know that some of the people that they've they've their their fuel supplies will take longer. Then if we go out to the market and say, you know, it's gonna be June of next year or, you know, March of March of next year, MSC will come back to us and say, well, why are you saying that? You know? We believe this can happen, and these counterparties will deal with this timeline. So we're sort of caught because we're dealing with multiple entities, which is quite difficult. We're optimistic because we're trying to push our clients to obviously deliver an earlier outcome as well, and sometimes they do take their time to, you know, to get things done.

51:09 So it's yeah. It's a very valid question. People, you know, are people on the board in terms of project management, you know, sitting on sitting on us and making sure that everything's done according to plan you know, according to all of the the best project management techniques that there are. The reality is we're not in control sometimes of the timelines, and it's it's it is frustrating. I I I can see that, Hamish. And I think we'd like to I think we we know we'd like to evolve, if you like, towards what you're saying. We'd like to be in the situation where the we're of ahead of the news curve, if you like, and things are happening. And then but the but and that hasn't been the case over the last few years. I think if we if we if we said to ourselves right now, okay, we're gonna get ahead of the news curve, then then there'd be a long silence and while while we allow the time to pass kind of thing, and that wouldn't be good either. So I think we know we we we can evolve to what you're saying. It's a really good challenge as to as to how to get to where we need to be because, you know, the the the investors wanna see commitments reached. That's absolutely clear. We get you know, shit. The the company gets punished if it if they don't it does by investors if it if it if it doesn't achieve that.

52:20 So we understand that, but we have to evolve a little bit towards that. We think we're being realistic. I asked the question before about, you know, other there's a now it's it's downside risk versus upside opportunities. I think that net net, you know, we should be fine. But, yeah, will it be exactly as we say? Who knows? So I I think we would like to be in a situation where news was happening and we could just announce what had already happened or that, you know, we could be more or less aggressive, if you like, with with time scales. And that and that, you know, is something we can work towards, but it's not something we can do over one day to another, I don't think. Hello. Nicholas Kay, private shareholder.

53:05 I just feel that quite often there is a lack of communication from what you're doing to to what we need to know about. And when we do get the communication, it's vague and open to interpretation. Even this morning, we heard that the trial will finish at such and such a date but we didn't even know at that stage that it hadn't started. We were quite expecting that the trial should have started in Morocco already. What I'd like to know is a visual picture of where this, MSAR is at this moment in time. Is it on actually on-site?

53:52 And do you have a date in your diary when the trial is going to start? Yeah. I mean, where the MSAR sits at the moment is in customs, I believe, as of today and about to get delivered to site. Exactly what day, I don't know because, yeah, that's that's being sorted out on a live basis. It's been sitting in customs for a a number of weeks getting paperwork sorted out, which has been hugely frustrating. We'd I'd love to be sitting here now saying that like I say, the trial is is up and running. So in terms of our data and our diary, we're aiming to get, obviously, the trial done before Christmas starts by mid December. So I think that's the diary in our minds, that's the expectation is that we're going to get the trial done mid December. But, you know, there are sometimes things which surprise us. At the moment, I think we we we think that we're we're winning on the customs process. We've got three things that need to get through, and, yeah, I think That more like a wish because it's still in a customs compound at the moment. So it is a bit finger in the air and and we're still here waiting.

55:08 What can we do to make that happen? You have people on on the ground who are getting getting all the paperwork sorted out. So once you get to the end of that process, it's only a matter of time before they they sign off and and release it. Right? But sometimes, you're missing a bit of paper here or a document there or there's a new customs number which has changed that hadn't you know, our shippers hadn't basically put in the shipment. So you have to change a whole load of paperwork. Anyway, things are a little bit complicated the first time around. The second time around, it's a lot lot simpler. But in terms of dates and the diary, certainly, you know, we're aiming to get the trial done before sort of mid December. Hi, Jason. Mark Skinner, long term shareholder.

55:56 Crucial to the MSC project is the dry docking of Leandra. And I believe in its schedules at the moment. Nothing is showing up for that, for whatever modifications need to happen. How can you be sure of the timelines you're giving to us about MSC when we don't even know when it's going into dry dock? Going into dry dock. As far as we know, we know it's going in before or about the end of the year is is a timetable that we've been told. It has to go into dry dock anyway because it's due an inspection over basically, over it's a three year period, Phil, is it?

56:41 It's around every three years, it it needs to go in for a maintenance inspection. So it's due. It's actually long overdue now. So it does that vessel does need to go into dry dock before the end of the year anyway or around the end of the year. So that timetable is what we're what we've been told, and that's what we expect to happen because from a regulatory point of view, it becomes a bit more problematic to operate the vessel anyway on that basis. So but, yeah, things are again, dry docking is not straightforward at the moment. You know, China is is a big problem. A lot of the docks, you know, the dry docks have have basically stopped or are not operating. So there's a bit of a competition for dry dock space Anyway, so it's that may have been delaying things as well. But as far as yeah.

57:31 We've been told quite recently it's the end of the year. So the Valcor project, they're using Huff and Puff for their heavy oil. They stated that they're probably gonna be using gas for the generation of steam. That slightly surprised me because I remember previous AGMs, one of the targets had been that MSR is probably quite a good solution for that. You produce oil, You use it for huff and puff cycles. Should be cheaper than gas. Any comment on that? Yeah. I mean, the main comment is just in The US, gas is cheap. Right? So in terms of if you look at the value of gas per unit energy in domestically within The US, it's it's a pretty cheap form of of energy, plus it, you know, in terms of emissions, it's lower than using the hydrocarbon as is.

58:22 So the the oil has more value if you can sell it to, you know, to the local markets as as an oil based product. So it's just it's just economics. But yeah. So if we're looking at the larger scale use of of of MSAR or bio MSAR in the region, it's more around the larger scale energy consumers, where people like, you know, the coal fired power plants that are under scrutiny now from the EPA to try and reduce their emissions. So as a coal fired so you can coal fired MSAR or bio MSAR. That that that that's the immediate application that we're looking at, but some others. Hi, Jason. Just on the the the Utah project. I think everybody sees the the huge upside in using that in the marine sector. I think it ticks a lot of boxes for us commercially.

59:13 I think the obvious difficulty is the geography of the area and the cost effectiveness of shipping it to a coastal area. First question really is, does our use of Utah oil is it subject to the new railway that's getting built? Or is there a cost effective means of transporting it to an area where it could be converted to bio MSAR or MSAR? I think in the longer term, the rail spur is important. So when you start to scale up the volumes, that's really where the the rail spur the rail spur is extremely important and also reduces the number of lorry movements as well in the region. So it's part of the permitting process, so I think that will happen.

59:59 But initially, the truck deliveries are basically more than capable of delivering what we need to do in in the early stages. So with the two together, I think the timing should be should work quite well, but obviously but, yeah, and the cost of the the cost of logistics by rail actually in The US is is pretty cost effective, actually. So it's not punitive. Sorry. So for example, if if you got oil out of the ground next year in in decent quantities and it's, you know, and it's good stuff, could you foresee that oil being converted to bioMSAAR, for example, for MSC to use at some point next year commercially? Commercially or certainly for trial volumes in the port especially around the Port Of LA where there's quite a lot of activity there as well to look at sort of lower NOx solutions.

1:00:51 So, yeah, later part of the year. Once once oil is flowing and it's of a quality that we know meets the marine grade, I think that's the, you know, that's the question mark now is just to make sure that the oil quality is is fit for purpose as a marine fuel, especially around sand levels, you know, as aluminum silicas. It needs to be at a pretty low level for us to use it. So we need to make sure we can meet those specifications. How large are these large entities we're dealing with? They don't get any larger than so yeah. I mean, if you look at who a company like MSC would buy their fuel oil from, it it would normally be, you know, the large traders and the oil majors. Right? So they're they're not really small entities, but that involves in multiple numbers of people you have to deal with.

1:01:45 Okay. There's there's another question there in a minute, but I I just wouldn't mind just if you if you let me answer or address to Jason a couple of the questions from the that were were pre submitted. And most of the pre submitted questions have been answered, albeit in somewhat glancing blows. So we may have to, you know, give them written responses as well. But one of them was, what is the plan for testing of the blend onboard technology? Will this be with MSC or another client or both? Good question. Obviously, MSC at the moment, the main focus is on bunkering the fuel onboard the vessel. But certainly, we in terms of what we're doing with the blend of board technology, are doing some further work with Aqua Fuel just on various different fuel blends to make sure that we've got the results to back up the efficiency claims. So we're looking at doing a trial on a conventional fuel, then comparing it with the emulsified version and looking at the efficiency and the emissions.

1:02:50 So there's some work that's going on with them, which we with the Aqua Fuel, which will be done before the end of the year. And then in terms of the blend on board technology, obviously, MSC are one of the candidates, but there's another there's a few other candidates as well that we're looking to demonstrate the unit on. So we have basically one unit which could be deployed on board a vessel at the moment. So it's just a question of which one comes first. The question about the aquafuel testing was also one of the other questions which was pre submitted. The only other one I've got that I think we have addressed perhaps in the same way is: Has a site visit been agreed or undertaken for any of the projects in Mexico? We have had people on-site, both through our agents and third parties already in the refineries.

1:03:40 Myself and Phil haven't been out there this year as yet, but there are certainly plans in place to do that once we get the approvals through for the documents that we submitted, basically, to the economics, then we submitted a load of documentation to support a site trial. So once that's gone through the procedures internally, which have taken a long time, then the plan would be for one or both of us to go down there and pursue those the meetings actually in the refineries themselves. QUADRISE PLC thank you. So those are the only questions there. Think we should would like to say that we will be around after the meeting for a while as long as people want to talk in terms of one to one questions. So don't feel you have to ask your questions in the forum if you don't need to. We will take perhaps another one or two questions if they're there, and then I think we'll perhaps draw it to a close.

1:04:37 Morning, Jason. Jason, considering our involvement with Maersk originally, are we still in talks with them? I was thinking of if MSC is now on board, that would put Maersk at a distinct disadvantage on the commercial basis. The other question is, KSA, go back a long, long while ago. Are we still talking to them or not? Thank you. So in terms of Maersk, we're we're we're still in dialogue with them. In fact, I was with the head of war trading actually sitting on a panel last week. So, yeah, we we we're still in in active discussion. But like I say, our main priority at the moment is looking after and making sure that the MSC project goes ahead, which is a big enough business in itself.

1:05:30 So I think there was a question one of the questions online was that, I think, in terms of looking at future fuels as well and methanol. Obviously, the route that Maersk are going at the moment is very much focused on methanol and not much else. And I think there's a question that came in, which we'll answer in full. Obviously, you'll see a line, but around whether there's a fit for sort of biofuel solutions as well as part of that. So certainly, with methanol, we see that what you normally need is you need a pilot fuel as well to support the use of methanol in the engine, which can be around sort of 10% of the energy consumption. So we see an application for bioemsoir in the future or a net zero solution as a pilot fuel for methanol use as well. But yeah, at the moment, in terms of the MERS discussions, we're politely talking to each other on a regular basis, but nothing nothing in in in play at the moment.

1:06:26 And sorry. The other question was around KSA. Yeah. I mean, we we have we haven't forgotten KSA at all. We have a the situation there is still that they consume large amounts of fuel oil. Ideally, for KSA to happen, we need to make sure that we have the commercial or the projects being demonstrated in other parts of the world so that they don't want to be the first. But if if we have systems in place, you know, Morocco, if we have to supply Morocco and to supply MSC in the future, then, you know, that's when that's a good time to to go back and speak to them and to KSA. Yeah. Plus, you know, making sure the right people are in in in place as well within the national company there. Jeremy Nelson, long term shareholder.

1:07:16 Possibly not as long as some, but it's still seem forever. Couple of questions I've got. The first one is just about going back to the delays on jobs, and I I know you probably heard enough about that. But it seems that they seem to go back in lockstep. So as MSC goes back, so does Morocco. Is that potentially because the partners you're talking to change both the projects? Are you looking at Morocco and MSC being supplied eventually by the same people? Are you under pressure from those people to potentially say or we let's for instance, we know that MSC work with Shell as their decarbonization partner. Are they putting you under pressure to say, we are your partner only, and you don't use anyone else? Are they are these issues you're having to deal with? No. I guess it may look like that externally, but in reality, it's just different problems and different projects, unfortunately, happening sometimes at the same time.

1:08:10 So, yeah, in terms of the people we're dealing with for MSC, there's there's no requirement for us to be exclusive with them. So we're not under that those sort of pressures as well at all. And in terms of the projects having independent supply or, you know, twinning up from supply from one place. We are keeping our options open for each project so they are sort of a stand alone. They don't so one's not dependent on the other to happen, I. E. If MSC doesn't proceed, Morocco will, for sure, because obviously, that's a a near term project for us anyway. It's just yeah. Unfortunately, sometimes timing for different reasons seems to push two projects back at the same time. Thanks. And the other one was just on European supply for energy.

1:08:58 Obviously, we know the crisis is going on. Germany is now shipping in LNG from across the world. Have you had any discussions in Europe about I I know it's not your your primary target you stated previously, but have there been discussions with any entities about about a possible solution to the crisis that, as you know, as you said, it's it's it's low lying fruit, your product, but it doesn't seem to be picked up by anyone. Yeah. We've definitely looked to that, Jeremy. It's it's it's a good question. You know, For the fuel to be used in Europe requires for the power stations, a, to be in place and operational. And the other thing is that power station itself needs to have flue gas desulfurization. So there aren't that many power plants available that actually have those facilities. There's one in Sweden, and there's another one in Lithuania.

1:09:49 The one in Lithuania decided very wisely a few years ago to knock all the tanks down. So they don't have any fuel tanks anymore. So they're completely beholden to gas supply, which is ridiculous. But so yeah, there are some small niches, but we can't really take advantage in a time frame that we think is tangible compared to some of the other things we're looking at. Jason, thank you very, very much. I think, as Andy said, that will be the conclusion for the formal questions for today. Andy, obviously, we've got a lot of people online, and Jason. So before we redirect those on the call to perhaps give you their feedback, which I know is important to you and the board, if I could just ask you for just a few closing comments, and then we'll send the investors online for their feedback.

1:10:35 Do you want me to do it, Andy? Yeah. You can. Yeah. Well, thank you very much for, you know, for your continued support for the company. Like I say, this year, you know, we've we've definitely made some pretty good headway in terms of some of the ESG work that we've done. The projects, whilst they haven't been delivered in a time frame that we would like, they're definitely at a point now where we think we're gonna get commercial revenue, you know, during this this coming calendar year. So, yeah, I think watch this space. We're we're pretty much excited, and we have a great team in place to actually deliver on these projects now. So thank you very much. Thanks to Jason, Andy, thank you very much for updating your attending today, and it's been it's been a great meeting. And thanks for taking the time. Jason, Andy, thank you very much for updating attendees today. Could I please ask attendees not to close the session as you'll now be automatically redirected to provide your feedback in order that the board can better understand your views and expectations? This will only take a few minutes to complete, but I'm sure it be greatly valued by the company.

1:11:36 On behalf of the board of QUADRISE PLC, we'd like to thank you for attending today's meeting, and good afternoon to you all.