GCEH camelina subsidiary Sustainable Oils moving headquarters to Great Falls, Montana

GCEH 2021 Montana camelina harvesting (Photo: Business Wire)

Global Clean Energy Holdings Inc. is relocating headquarters for its camelina feedstock subsidiary Sustainable Oils Inc. to a new facility in Great Falls, Montana, where its crop-innovation programs, commercial-grower support, and executive and administrative activities will be consolidated. Migration to the new site is expected to be complete by Nov. 1.

The new facility and the team-member additions will support Sustainable Oils’ camelina breeding and development program and its goal of cultivating more than 1 million acres of camelina for oil as feedstock in GCEH’s renewable diesel refinery under development in Bakersfield, California, which the company says will be complete in early 2022.

Sustainable Oils was founded in 2005 in Seattle, Washington. GCEH acquired the company from Targeted Growth Inc. in 2013.

“We have aggressive expansion plans for camelina production with our goal of over one million acres of annual production projected at market maturity, and Great Falls is an excellent location for our headquarters as it is the anchor of Montana’s agricultural ‘Golden Triangle,’” said Mike Karst, president of Sustainable Oils. “While this is a large target for us, we believe it is a positive revenue generator for our contract growers as it will generate over $250 million per year of additional revenue to them and their rural communities.”

Richard Palmer, CEO of GCEH, said, “Our camelina varieties have been approved through California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard program, which adds significant value to the camelina oil. We will continue to invest heavily in the science, grower education and the necessary grain logistical systems to make it a success in Montana and other states in the western United States.”

Also located in the area is Calumet Specialty Products Partners, which has a refinery in Great Falls, Montana, where Calumet plans to convert an oversized hydrocracker to process renewable diesel. The company is working to secure feedstock contracts and plans to utilize a variety of locally grown crop oils such as camelina, canola, and mustard.