State of Mississippi Pledges Financial Support for Five KiOR Biofuel Facilities

KiOR receives $75 million in state funding to create over 1,000 jobs in Mississippi

PASADENA, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--KiOR, Inc., a next-generation energy company, reached an agreement last Friday with the State of Mississippi to build five commercial-scale renewable crude oil production facilities in return for a State assistance package that includes a $75 million loan. According to the agreement, KiOR will build three of the five facilities over the next five years. By 2015, the project will deliver more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs and an estimated $500 million worth of investment. In addition to the loan, the State’s package includes assistance with infrastructure needs and workforce training.

“This partnership with the State of Mississippi will help us to rapidly scale our technology while creating quality jobs and spurring economic development in the State”

The company plans to utilize Mississippi’s abundant supply of woody biomass to produce commercial volumes of Re-Crude™, a high-quality crude oil that can be refined into conventional fuel products, including gasoline and diesel, and deployed in the country’s existing transportation fuels infrastructure.

“This partnership with the State of Mississippi will help us to rapidly scale our technology while creating quality jobs and spurring economic development in the State,” said Fred Cannon, President and CEO of KiOR. “We’re excited about making a meaningful and near-term contribution to easing our country’s dependence on foreign oil, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and providing a boost to rural economies.”

“I am delighted to welcome KiOR to Mississippi,” Governor Haley Barbour said. “I am pleased this innovative new company has committed to locating five production facilities in the state and will be providing 1,000 high-quality jobs for Mississippi residents and economic opportunities in rural communities around the state. KiOR’s revolutionary technology will allow the company to use Mississippi’s abundant, renewable natural resources to produce a crude oil substitute that will help meet our nation’s energy needs while reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”

KiOR has developed a biomass-to-renewable crude oil conversion process that essentially reduces the time it takes nature to produce oil from millions of years to a matter of seconds. KiOR’s process utilizes a proprietary catalyst system and leverages a proven technology used in the oil refining industry. It has significant cost advantages, including lower capital and operating costs, compared to other biofuels technologies. KiOR will initially utilize woody biomass in its process, but the technology can eventually take advantage of other feedstock such as agricultural residue or purpose grown energy crops. The process is being successfully demonstrated at the company’s facility located outside of Houston, which is producing up to 15 barrels of renewable crude oil per day from woodchips, a 400 time scale-up from the company’s pilot plant.

For more information on this announcement and the company (including high resolution photos and video) please visit the company’s electronic press kit at http://epkzone.com/KiOR/.

About KiOR

KiOR is a next-generation energy company that combines a proprietary catalyst system with a biomass-to-renewable oil conversion technology to produce a high quality oil called Re-Crude™. Re-Crude™ is compatible with today’s transportation fuels infrastructure and is a viable near-term solution to help ease our dependence on foreign oil, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and create high-quality jobs and economic benefit across rural America.

KiOR was founded in 2007 and is a privately owned company. For more information, please visit www.KiOR.com.