COLUMBUS, Miss. (WTVA) -- KiOR officials say they are producing a high quality synthetic crude oil at its Lowndes County facility.
President and CEO Fred Cannon made the announcement Thursday during a presentation of the companies third quarter financials.
Cannon says the operations validate KiOR's proprietary technology to turn non-food biomass into synthetic oil.
Company officials say once the plant has built up the blendstock, the Columbus facility will begin refining the oil into cellulosic gasoline and diesel.
Company officials expect to begin their first shipments by the end of November.
The company has also begun work on a second facility in Natchez.
The Columbus facility is the first production facility to begin operations for the company.
The third quarter financials showed a net loss of $27 million.
The company says they were focused on getting operations underway in Columbus, further research and development to improve production yields and obtaining financing for expansion plans during the quarter.
