Oxford Catalysts Group is negotiating potential New Year licensing deals for innovative clean fuel technologies.

Roy Lipski, chief executive officer of AIM-quoted Oxford, says the company is talking to a 'major consumer electronics company in the Far East' about developing its 'hydrogen-on-demand' catalyst to prolong the lives of batteries in cameras, mobile telephones and other items by as much as five times. Oxford, backed by pre-float supporter IP Group and Oxford University, is also in discussions with 'major players' in the oil business about applying its catalysts, which can use cobalt or titanium instead of highly priced platinum to remove sulphur from fuel in refineries but which are not applicable to vehicle engines.

Adapting and enhancing 'Fischer Tropsh' technology devised in 1920s Germany, Oxford Catalysts is working on processes that make hydrogen gas for fuel cells without hydrogen's customary volatility and flammability. The company — which is building on discoveries made by its co-founder, Oxford Professor Malcolm Green, with fellow founder Dr Tiancun Xiao as chief scientific officer — is also reinventing steam power at temperatures of 800 degrees Centigrade without boiling water or giving off sulfur, and is already seeking to develop a steam-cleaning prototype with another AIM company, Proventec.

Oxford Catalysts, which floated in April with a £14 million placing at 152p through broker KBC Peel Hunt, says its gas-to-oil catalyst is economic with oil priced above $22 a barrel, against $61 today. Lipski says Professor Green is now working on using nuclear power technology to 'reverse global warming' by making petrol from carbon dioxide.

The company lost £382,000 in the six months to June. Lipski says Oxford still has most of its placing cash and will burn cash slowly — unless some particularly tempting deal presents itself — as it negotiates deals to generate royalty income.

The shares quickly peaked at 233.5p before dropping back heavily to 136.5p. Now 152p, valuing the company at £57 million, they are clearly a speculation, but one that could possibly pay off handsomely.