While the company will be listed in Australia, its operations and sales will be overseas. Its jatropha feedstock will be grown in Indonesia and the oil will be sold in Asia and Europe.

Jatoil will offer up to 35 million shares at 20c each to raise $7 million and may accept over subscriptions for up to another 15 million shares to raise a further $3 million.

The maximum raising of up to $10 million comes in addition to the company’s cash reserves of $5 million.

Executive chairman Mike Taverner said Jatoil would not experience the problems encountered by Australia-focused biofuels companies as both its feedstock and markets were overseas.

“We have already entered an agreement to participate in substantial jatropha projects in Indonesia and we are initially exploring additional opportunities in Sri Lanka and South-East Asia,” he said.

The offer opens on November 16 and closes at month-end. Jatoil aims to list on the Australian bourse on December 12.

“Jatropha is a hardy bush that produces a non-edible oil suitable for biodiesel production,” Jatoil notes on its website. “It can be grown on marginal and semi-arid land not suitable for food production, avoiding competition with food crops.”

This sounds attractive, but jatropha is not yet suitable for cultivation in Australia as the seeds must be hand-picked and it takes about an hour for one person to harvest 8kg of seeds.

However, Hawaiian researchers are investigating modifying coffee harvester machinery or blueberry pickers to mechanise jatropha harvest.