I see talk about how PTOI could have been avoided. The big thing for me is having a proof-of-concept. I know PTOI founder Mr. Bordynuik was very convincing. He not only said he had a proof-of-concept, he described it in detail. According to him, PTOI's processor cost $80,000 and could produce 115 barrels of "fuel" per day for under $10 per barrel ( "You literally have to make up costs." ). He also gave specific numbers for the offers he supposedly received, stating he was offered $3 less than the price of West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI- $3) which was around $100 per barrel at the time. His story was very compelling. He even said he was able to scale up the process...which made it sound like there was no reason to question the price/cost claims.

When Mr. Bordynuik announced that Somerset Refinery was the refinery which gave PTOI the WTI-$3 offer, a quick Google check showed that Somerset had been shut down for months. That was Mr. Bordynuik waving a big red flag saying you shouldn't trust a word coming out of his mouth. Later with Mr. Bordynuik's media credit accounting fraud, it was clear he wasn't honest...and probably shouldn't have been trusted with his "under $10/bbl" and "WTI-$3" claims.

There was other information available such as "waste plastic" being a bit of a misnomer since even low quality scrap plastic carries a significant price tag...but the main thing is dishonesty. Dishonest management shouldn't be entrusted with others' money--that's the biggest issue.