Rabat – A British court has ordered the oil and gas major British Petroleum to pay the National Bank of Abu Dhabi more than $68 million to resolve an issue related to the sudden closure of SAMIR, Morocco’s sole refinery, in August 2015.
BP had reportedly sold a cargo of Russian Ural crude to SAMIR in August 2014, but the shipment’s price has yet to be paid. The bank based in the United Arab Emirates bore responsibility for 95 percent of the cost of the cargo.
The London-based court said BP did not have the right to pass off paying the debt payment without the consent of the Moroccan company, according to the contract that dictated the terms of the purchase of the shipment.
BP has been ordered to pay the Abu Dhabi bank $68.9 million plus interest to compensate the financial institution for payments dodged by SAMIR due to its ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.
SAMIR – a Moroccan company two-thirds owned by Saudi billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi’s Corral Holdings – owes foreign companies such as Glencore and Vitol approximately $1 billion for delivered crude shipments.
The Moroccan authorities claim the refinery owes approximately $1.3 billion in unpaid taxes.
The refiner’s new court-appointed trustees hope to restart the facility’s production by the December 21st court deadline, however SAMIR’s shaky financial standing has caused suppliers to steer away from providing the refinery with needed crude supplies.
Resuming refinery activities would allow creditors to get a better return from SAMIR’s asset liquidation, which is set to occur at the beginning of next year.
