Bad Petroleum Product or A Fight by the Oil Cabal?

Monrovia – It has been three weeks since a vessel carrying heavy fuel oil destined for Liberia has been trying to berth at the Freeport of Monrovia. Despite the owners of the cargo having paid all necessary fees, the authorities have continued to deny the vessel authorization to berth.

Authorities at the Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (LPRC), the government agency which oversees the regulation and quality of petroleum products to meet safety and performance standards, insist that the product onboard the MT Summer 7 vessel is above the 500ppm specification set by LPRC for importing products to Liberia. LPRC claims the product has higher sulphur content than permitted in the Liberian market.

The importers, Prime Contractors Inc., have refuted LPRC’s claim and believe that LPRC’s action is deliberate and influenced by major market players who are undermining a competitive market.

Initially, on June 8, the LPRC had informed the management of Prime Contractors Inc. that although the petroleum product contained a higher sulphur content than permitted, it would allow the vessel to discharge the product into the China Union Tank for the use of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) only, which had reportedly contracted Prime Contractors Inc. for the supply of its heavy fuel generators.

However, the vessel has continuously been denied access to the port, despite a court order.

On June 24, Associate Justice Yussif D. Kaba ordered the LPRC, APM Terminal, and OBT to liaise with relevant government security agencies, including the Liberia Coast Guard, Liberia Sea Port Police, and the Liberia National Police, to ensure that MT Summer 7 does not leave the territorial waters of Liberia until full compliance with the Court’s order for the vessel to berth at the Freeport of Monrovia.

The Court’s order followed a Bill of Information filed by Prime Contractors Inc. that the respondents were denying the vessel access to the port.

In its Bill of Information, Prime Contractors Inc. noted that a sum of US$125,000, which includes all port expenses and charges for the National Port Authority, LPRC, and APM Terminal to provide a tugboat to bring in the MT Summer 7 vessel, had been paid. Additionally, the owners of the vessel had demanded a bank confirmation or guarantee to show that they (Prime Contractors Inc.) could pay the sum of US$1.7 million as a condition precedent for the vessel, which originated from Hamriyah Port, United Arab Emirates, to deliver the product to the Freeport of Monrovia. According to Prime Contractors, the bank guarantee was secured and sent to the Captain of MT Summer 7, who has also refused to berth the vessel because of the interferences of the port authorities and the LPRC.

The Liberian Investigator gathered that major market players with storage facilities, who had been informed of Prime Contractors Inc.’s contract with the LEC and the company’s willingness to sell at a slightly lower price, have been engaging the importers of the gas oil to sell to them at their dictated price as a precondition to allow them to discharge the product in their storage facilities. Prime Contractors, however, refused to accept the deal, thereby reportedly prompting other forms of ‘sabotage’.

The LPRC, however, insists that it set a standard to reject any gas oil above 500ppm as per its February 2024 communication setting new guidelines for the importation of petroleum products to Liberia.