Jatoil reaches shipping milestone

On 3 February 2011 energy company Jatoil achieved production of 200 tonnes of crude jatropha oil, all of which will be shipped and used as feedstock for biojet aviation fuel for use by commercial airlines.

The 200-tonne production milestone comes six months after Jatoil made its inaugural 10-tonne biofuel sale from its Indonesia project to the airline industry.

'Currently, only limited supplies of renewable oil feedstock is available for biojet fuel, and jatropha provides the necessary qualities that are sought by airline companies,' says Phil Hodgson, CEO of Jatoil. 'Our operations in Central Java are starting to produce larger quantities and have recently been visited by representatives from Lufthansa, which has been evaluating supply sources.'

PT Jatoil is Jatoil's 70%-owned joint venture in Central Java. It produces increased volumes of crude jatropha oil, and second-generation feedstock.

Additionally, the company is planning to trade energy commodities this year as a core part of its business.

With this in mind, the company has strengthened its Singapore operations by appointing experienced energy commodities trader Nick Croom to the board of its Singapore subsidiaries.

With experience in trading and investment banking in Sydney, London and Singapore, Croom will join Jatenergy Holdings Pte Ltd and Jatenergy Indonesia Pte Ltd. He has worked in commodity trading and investment banking for 20 years and has held positions with ANZ, BNP Paribas, Glencore, RBS Sempra and JP Morgan.

Speaking about the move, Hodgson says: 'Our stated strategy is to secure project capital through Asian markets, as well as to prepare ourselves for trading our energy products as production ramps up from our jatropha, and potentially coal, projects during 2011.'