SulphCo restatement widens loss from early 2006

Sparks-based SulphCo Inc. said last week that its operating loss for the first half of 2006 totaled $27.7 million rather than the $11.2 million it initially reported.

The publicly held company restated its earnings after it took a fresh look at a project under way in Fuhairah in the United Arab Emirates.

Last year, SulphCo executives decided that the project was sufficiently advanced that its costs should be capitalized.

But after taking a second look at the project, SulphCo executives said the building isn't ready to house processing equipment and testing of a key component hasn't been completed. So they decided to treat the costs as a current expense rather than capitalizing them.

SulphCo is developing a system to remove sulfur from crude oil.