Thanks Jack. Dennis's post drew my attention to OCG. I thought it seemed exciting, did a little research and came across Compact GTL
Both companies are based close to Oxford, UK. OCG came out of Oxford University, and Compact GTL was spun out from the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Both are aimed at small-scale GTL.
I asked the IR advisor for Oxford Catalysts about Compact; he told me he knew nothing about them. The General Manager of Compact was more open, clearly identifying OCG as major competition. Neither mentioned the patent dispute, which I hadn't come across at the time.
Once I knew of the dispute I emailed Compact, asking if the dispute had been resolved. They didn't respond. I called Oxford Catalysts and spoke with the office manager, who confirmed that the dispute is not settled, but was unable to give me any details. She said the CFO was best placed to answer my questions and promised that she, the CFO, would call me back. She didn't.
Oxford Catalysts have a slick and informative website, and the technology seems to have a lot of promise, but they seem in no hurry to answer specific questions. "We can't divulge information that isn't already public" is a mantra I heard from both IR advisor and the Office Manager. That's fine, notices of impending court cases are public. The manager promised that the CFO would call me back. No one did.
My brief interaction with Oxford has cooled the excitement created by Dennis's posting and their website. They might still be a good investment. I've been frustrated before by companies being overly cautious concerning information. But anytime at company doesn’t disclose pertinent negative information it raises a red flag for me.
Ashley |
