Member Info for thurgarton

As to a funding commitment, this appeared in the Sun:

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10144854/ba-carbon-emissions-offset/

Seems somebody has a little faith.

EB - I don't see how you can reconcile your latest post with your original response on this thread which saw delays with planning approval as a certainty based on a very tenuous case. Arguing that VLS has not ensured that funds would be available to actually go ahead with the project suggests that Shell and BA have made no undertaking to provide finance which begs the question why spend£400K (your figure) applying for permission to build something you can't afford. As for unfair to the other contestants, this is a new argument with no basis to support it. I agree that you have been rubbishing the company for ages - presumably you have a motive for doing so. Would you care to share it with us.

Not sure that your gloat is justified. If you are right, surely Ricardo would have said just that. In fact they have consistently said nothing since early Summer which leads one to suppose that either they have been told nothing by HMG (perfectly plausible given its present state of disarray!) or they are waiting for a specific event before making their announcement and to disclose this would reveal the result of the competition. I would also presume that the Immingham planning aplication would not have been submitted unless the finance to proceed was in place. I also think that the planning application will be resolved in November - currently there are no significant objectors to the application (it's all on the Council web site) and therefore if, as I would hope, it is approved it is most unlikely to go to appeal.

Given the total lack of info from the F4C regarding the results I sent the following:

It is now mid October and, despite the longstanding claim on your web site that "All shortlisted applicants will now undergo further due diligence prior to final grant award in Summer 2019" , the results of the competition have still to be announced. Do you have any idea when you are likely to make this long overdue announcement and could you please explain the reason for the delay and the lack of up to date information on your web site .

I received the following response:

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately we are not yet in a position to make any further announcements, but hope to do so in the next few weeks. At this stage I am unable to provide further update.



Regards,

F4C Project Team

Webpage: ee.ricardo.com/F4C

Email: F4C@ricardo.com

I think this may be read in two ways - either HMG is distracted by more pressing matters and has put the whole thing on hold or they are waiting for result of the planning application by VLS (29 Nov) before announcing the result. It would be nice to think that the latter case is true. Meanwhile he SP continues below 2p. I am still sitting on my hands. DYOR

According to Wikipedia:

Early in his career he worked for Deloitte & Touche in New York and became a U.S. citizen. He later returned to Russia, where he teamed up with Roman Abramovich to start the oil trading outfit Runicom S.A.[6] In 1995, the men partnered to gain control of oil giant Sibneft "in an auction that some experts," according to the Irish Independent, "suspect of having been rigged";[7] Shvidler joined Sibneft initially as senior Vice President and served as company president from 1998 until October 2005, when Russian state energy company Gazprom acquired Sibneft.[8] For most of his tenure, Sibneft was Russia's fastest growing oil company in terms of production, and its most profitable in terms of earnings per barrel.[9]

Shvidler is chairman of Millhouse LLC, the investment and asset management company he shares with Abramovich and their partners.

Make what you will of that but if RA is dumping he has a lot to dump!!

The Velocys website offers the following as holdings on 6 Sep 19. Not a lot has changed ! Can't see RA getting out at this price given the price when he got in wwas in excess of £2!

Shareholders owning more than 3% of the Company at 6 September 2019 were as follows:

Ervington Investments Limited (21.41%)

Lansdowne Partners (21.16%)

Amati AIM VCT plc (10.36%)

CQS Directional Opportunities Master Fund Ltd (9.32%)

Janus Henderson Group (6.09%)

Jarvis Investment Management (4.25%)

Invesco Asset Management (3.67%)

More than 76% of shares are owned by 7 institutional investors (18 Sep 19 figures) and there is no sign that any of them are abandoning ship. The 5million traded today are a drop in the ocean and reflect small investors concerns, mostly founded, I suspect, on the lack of meaningful statements from Velocys. A favourable F4C result coupled with obtaining planning permission for the UK project would steady their nerves and, I would hope, move the sp in a positive direction. I will continue to sit on my hands in the meantime.

May I ask by whom? Not a Mr Johnson by any chance!

I emailed F4C pointing out that their promised announcement was overdue and got the following response "We are hoping to provide an update very soon. " No explanation, no indication of what constituted soon. You may have a point!!! However, given that the current government is mired in uncertainty and could be an ex-government by tomorrow, F4C's position is somewhat understandable. We shall see, but not, I suspect until the current Brexit wrangle is resolved.

I think it more likely that Shell will stump up the necessary although I think we all know that the F4C decision is crucial. As it is now officially Autumn, that should have already happened - I wonder what is causing the delay?

You think. Have you seen the amount of documentation raised by the specialist firm employed. If you then consider the amount of work required to produce such a comprehensive application, including local consultations etc, I am sure you would agree that the likely cost is not going to be peanuts!

It your glass always half empty?

It is hard to believe that Altalto would have proceeded with the planning application without the belief that sufficient funding would be available. The ADVFN chat board suggests that Shell and BP reps have recently visited the site which they would hardly do if they were not interested in developing it. Time will tell, but F4C MUST be about to make an announcement. Two new entries on the planning application: Local Parish Council - no objection, and Environment report from Planning Dept which specifies working hours during construction and minor building requirements so no red lines so far. However it would be nice to know when the Council plan to make their decision.

If you look at the site location plan you will note that it is next door to a power station. Obviously that must have been built under the same constraints. The Drainage Board comment to which you refer was added yesterday: it will interesting to see what the other Drainage Board concerned has to say. I presume that you have also read the Flood Risk assessment submitted as part of the application. It would appear that there has been a thorough investigation by Enzygo which I presume Altalto have considered before making their submission. Everyone who knows the area knows that it is as flat as a pancake and prone to flooding. I can only presume that Altalto have taken this into consideration before deciding to proceed and therefore also presume that they have answers to the comments of the drainage boards.

Further to my last, Altalto filed a full planning application on 9 Aug - hence no upgrade on Velocys' original scoping application. [nelincs.gov.uk/planning (ref: DM/0664/19/FUL)]. Interesting read with loads of plans etc but interestingly no date for consideration given as yet. Only objection I can find is from English Heritage because it may spoil the view of an unspecified Gade I/II listed building! Some fairly large buys yesterday and the trend continues today. Here's hoping.

Just checked the original scoping application on nelincs.gov.uk (ref: DM_0327_19_SCO) and nothing has been added since May which would seem to be at odds with the BA blurb and associated news stories, but would explain why Velocys have said nothing - but then again the quality of the company's PR is a known entity! Plenty of buyers, though, despite which the SP has been pretty static. F4C should come up with a decision imminently which could provide the impetus all us PIs are hoping for.

Looks like your contact got it wrong! Have a look at the ADFN Velocys chat page and the replies from F4C to specific queries. Spreading unsubstantiated rumours does little for your credibility.

Ought is better than nought. This is the first show of any real interest by the BoD for ages. Any. visible sign of support by those that presumably are better informed than us poor shareholders surely has to be viewed as a positive. Now if you were talking of the PR effort I would have to agree with you. F4C announcement date?

So why is Shell involved in the Velocys project?

It's not just Lloyds that is falling victim to the unscrupulous legal firms pushing people to claim. If my information is correct, the NHS is currently hamstrung because the amount of legal claims against it are such a serious drain on its resouces. The legal profession in this country are, IMHO, a pack of unscrupulous vultures who will do almost anything to make a quick buck. This attitude was imported from the USA and the blame society in which we now live. Until something is done to curb their avaracious practices there will always be a "compensation" case hanging over many of our largest institutions. Presently it is cheaper to cough up than contest claims because of the cost of legal action. Just look at what it cost to defend (and lose) the Noel Edmonds settlement and consider what it would have cost to quietly settle as soon as the case was raised.