Sorry bout that. I tested the link. Maybe it was coming from my cache. Oh well. Here's the article......
Green Oasis not so lush
by JOHN P. McDERMOTT
Originally Published on 4/07/98
Page: B7
Keyword: Plant; Recycling; Company
MORE LOSSES: Green Oasis is shutting down its waste-oil recycling plant temporarily and it expects to report a loss
of 11 cents a share for
Green Oasis Environmental Inc. has shut down its only waste-oil recycling plant and laid off five local workers, saying
it could no longer afford to run the machine under its existing permit.
The shutdown is temporary, Green Oasis President Bill Carraway said Monday. The five laid-off employees
represented half of the company's workforce, he said.
Also, Green Oasis said it expects to report a loss of 11 cents a share for 1997, or $709,844, on revenues of $1.3
million. That would bring the company's back-to-back losses since 1991 to more than $6.3 million.
The company's recycling prototype is on the Allied Terminal property on Greenleaf Street. The mobile refinery was
designed to convert used motor oil into low-grade diesel fuel.
Carraway said the company stopped operating the unit because low diesel fuel prices and state- regulated production
limits have prevented Green Oasis from recouping the plant's fixed costs. The machine had been running regularly for
about four months.
''The prices are so depressed right now that we have to operate at a higher volume to cover the fixed costs, and
virtually all of the costs are fixed,'' Carraway said.
He said Green Oasis has applied to the S.C. Department of Health & Environmental Control to increase its hourly
oil-recycling capacity to 1,000 gallons from 250 gallons.
''We're hoping to have that revised permit around June,'' Carraway said. ''At current prices, 500 to 600 gallons an
hour is the break-even point.''
Green Oasis said it will restart the plant only to demonstrate its technology to potential buyers.
One investor expressed frustration via the Internet after learning of the shutdown Monday. ''Jeez, can anything else
go wrong with this company?'' the investor asked readers of an online forum made up of Green Oasis shareholders.
Separately, Carraway said there is ''nothing new at all'' to report on an investigation the Securities & Exchange
Commission launched against Green Oasis last year.
In March 1997, the agency began scrutinizing the accuracy of the company's news releases and the close relationship
between Green Oasis and a financial analyst who recommended the company's stock to investors. The SEC halted
trading of Green Oasis shares for 10 days last May.
In September investigators said they would recommend that the SEC take civil actions against the company and
certain officers and directors for allegedly violating two securities laws. The SEC, which does not comment about
investigations, has not yet taken action.
Green Oasis said in October that it would try to settle the SEC matter without admitting or denying the allegations.
Carraway said Monday that he does not expect the company to be fined.
Meanwhile, Green Oasis said it will hold its annual shareholders meeting in Houston sometime in October.
''We expect to have a large plant operational in the Houston area prior to (October) and we want everyone to have an
opportunity to see that,'' Carraway said.
Shares of Green Oasis closed Monday with bid and ask prices of 9.5 cents and 53 cents, respectively, according to
Bloomberg Business News. The company's shares are sold through the pink sheets, a publication that lists prices for
thousands of penny stocks. Green Oasis said it has more than 6.4 million shares outstanding.
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LLP Mark |
