upgrader1upgrader1. You sound very credible and not to question your past but you certainly wouldn't be the first person to misrepresent themself on Stockhouse.
The basic message is the same but this post has a totally different (bad) tone to it than your September 22, 2008 post (spectacular buy). As an ex senior employee I would be intersted in your opinion. Is OPTI a winner or loser at these prices? Thanks.
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Hombre,
The upgrader has not yet made any upgraded crude. In order to do that, they have to have all components integrated. They are just now test firing the gasification unit (AGU) on vacuum residue. This is tremendous news and bodes well for their success, but they are a long way away from upgrading.
The OrCrude unit is the front end of this plant. It was ready to circulate crude in January, and has only begun circulating recently to prevent dangerous products on site while the AGU was still under construction. It was the best executed and built unit at OPTI and is performing very well.
The hydrocracker, which actually upgrades the crude 
, receives OrCrude product and combines it with hydrogen from the AGU to make upgraded premium synthetic crude (PSC). It is ready to operate and could potentially upgrade a few batches of crude if they get an external source of H2.
Total plant integrated startup and production of PSC is going to happen, but not for a few more months. Even then, something will probably break, requiring a few more months of repairs and debottlenecking. Springtime anyone?
That being said, OPTI is a spectacular buy, will work, and will be a valuable asset for a big giant to snap up if the startup happens.