22nd Feb 2005 09:00
D1 Oils Plc22 February 2005 22 February 2005 Rolls-Royce funds new D1 refinery D1 Oils plc ("D1") today announced it has agreed terms with Rolls-Royce tofinance a D1 20 refinery. The new refinery, to be located in Durban, SouthAfrica, will support D1's activities in South Africa and represents afundamental step in establishing the D1 brand and operation in Africa. The D1 20 refinery is expected to be built and fully operational by thirdquarter of 2005. It is able to produce eight million litres of biodiesel perannum from crude vegetable oil. Under the offset financing arrangement, Rolls-Royce will provide a US$1millionloan over four years to D1 at preferential rates of interest. D1 believes thatfurther offset arrangements are an attractive method of expanding its portfolioof refineries. It is currently estimated that there are several billion dollarsof unfulfilled offset credits worldwide. D1 Chairman Karl E Watkin MBE said, "This agreement, which we believe will bethe first of many, is a creative way of securing additional non-equity fundingto develop our business worldwide. We are delighted to conclude our first offsetfinancing deal with Rolls-Royce who is the first major corporation to understandits benefits." CEO Philip Wood said, "This is the culmination of more than two years hard workby the D1 team in partnership with Rolls-Royce. It is a key component of ourplan to commence refining operations in South Africa in 2005 and develop anindigenous supply of feedstock. The whole project, when on stream, will assistthe South African Government meet its commitment to the Kyoto Protocol." Enquiries Philip Wood D1 Oils plc 020 7321 3885Peter Campbell D1 Oils plc 020 7321 3885Kevin Byram/ Brunswick 020 7404 5959James Crampton Notes to editors: D1 Oils plc is the owner of technical, marketing, logistical and otherintellectual property related to the establishment, development and harvestingof jatropha plantations, the extraction of oil from the harvested seed and theproduction of bio diesel and other valuable by-products from the vegetable oil. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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