Thanks for posting these videos
@Neil1959. They are 'audio-visual gold' and as others have said before me, compulsory viewing for all LWP shareholders. They would no doubt be of considerable interest to potential licensees, JV partners and off-takers as well.
Congratulations must go out to Ziggy and David for making such compelling presentations which have not only brought clarity to the significance of our technology, but have illustrated how their responsiveness and adaptability to changing customer needs and market conditions have earned LWP an enviable competitive advantage in the global proppants market. We could have very easily disappeared along with the market for higher cost ceramic proppants - just reflect on that for a moment. The reality, however, is that LWP have not only survived through sheer determination, resilience and innovation, but have emerged in a greater position of strength and longevity. So in my mind, we should be appreciative of management's efforts to keep us firmly in the game with the potential for enhanced, mid to long-term returns in any oil price environment.
For those of you who haven't has time to watch the videos yet, below are some key quotes from David and Ziggy that reinforce my 'buy' sentiment.
---------
David said...
"And we've
learned how to control it [fly ash]. We've
learned how to alloy it to make and enhance properties. We've
learned how to control the Krumbein factors,
so make perfectly round pellets. Umm, and perhaps most importantly we've
learned how to control the strength. So if someone says I need a high strength proppant at
15k [15,000 psi],
we can do that. And if they say actually I need a
10k [10,000 psi], well
we can do that. And with the current price of oil driving everyone to lower costs, they're now saying well actually I only need a
4k [4,000 psi] because if you can beat what I can get locally in my market on sand, then I like what you have. And
that's what we've been doing in the last year."
"
With this technology...
we could be installing a facility that's today producing 4 to 7k proppant and overcoming that regional trade barrier.
In the future when oil does pick up to $60, $70, 80$ a barrel, deep exploration starts again. Offshore oil production starts again. People start going after those deposits.
We can convert that plant and manufacture high strength ceramic proppants from the same resource. So
good opportunity and flexibility."
"...
our cost of production from energy and raw material
is going to be significantly different [read 'cheaper'] from many other ceramic producers in the world. That's what we're gonna leverage."
"... we're
trying to emulate a sand proppant for the Australian market. Why? Because at the moment sand is being imported from Minnesota to Australia. There's a lot of logistical cost with that. We can produce locally, we can supply a local market, and
no competitor can touch us because they all have a logistic barrier to come to Australia."
"... where
we've had a lot of interest is out of India. As I said before, a lot of fly ash in India, a growing disposal problem, ... the government has also mandated that they have to reuse all the fly ash there... beneficial use... and so this is a potential market for us. And
India is not too far away from the Middle East, which of course has no glacial frac sand, has no coal-fired power generation and has a lot of relationships with India. [Read between the lines...]
Ziggy said...
"
If we look at a ceramic proppant made in China, [it will take] around 8.5-10c per pound to get it to the well [in the US]. If you can make a proppant locally next to the power plant and have zero logistics costs,
our manufacturing cost is going to be lower than just their transport and logistics costs."
"We're
putting in a Plan B so that we can never, never fail. And that
no matter how long it takes for the oil and gas markets to improve,
we can utilise our technology for the good of LWP and it's shareholders."
---------
IMO we can all sleep better at night knowing that LWP have reportedly:
(1) Mastered the dark art of manipulating fly ash proppants into any shape (i.e. sphericity and roundness) and strength (psi) of its choosing;
(2) At a lower cost/price point than many other ceramic proppant producers;
(3) With the added flexibility of being able to convert facilities to produce higher or lower strength proppants depending on the prevailing oil price environment;
(4) Effectively making us (potentially) untouchable in our chosen markets due to the logistical barriers to entry; and
(5) Comforted in the knowledge that we have a built-in fail-safe mechanism (Plan B).
gh.
