Tank storage capacity at major petroleum hubs is a real and valuable service. Refineries, trading houses, and end users pay meaningful fees for secure space in terminals in Rotterdam, Houston, Fujairah, Singapore, and other ports. That reality has also created a target for organized fraud. In recent years, buyers of EN590, jet fuel, gasoil, crude, and other refined products have been flooded with offers for storage that does not exist, product that is not in tank, and tank storage receipts that carry no legal weight.
The playbook is straightforward. Fraudsters impersonate well known storage operators or invent small private tank farms. They produce forged tank storage agreements, fake tank numbers, and fabricated inspection reports. They use these documents to pressure buyers into paying "reservation fees", "injection charges", or "tank activation costs" long before any physical product is loaded or any reputable terminal confirms a booking. The product never appears. The money is gone. The paperwork collapses under even basic verification.
Before unpacking the fraud patterns, it helps to set out how legitimate storage arrangements usually work. That gives buyers and intermediaries a simple benchmark for normal practice.
Large independent terminals and integrated refinery sites have established procedures, basic KYC checks, and standard contracts. They do not grant access based on informal letters, vague allocations, or unverified third party introductions.
In serious transactions, banks, inspectors, and trade finance providers rely on direct terminal confirmations and chain of title checks, not on unauthenticated PDF files sent by email.
Tank storage fraud tends to follow a small number of patterns. Names, company details, and ports change, but the structure is largely the same.
In a number of reported cases, buyers have wired funds to accounts controlled by companies that exist only on paper and were formed weeks or months before the fraud.
Paperwork around tank storage is another key tool for fraud. Scammers know that many buyers ask for tank storage receipts, dip test authorizations, and inspection reports as comfort. They respond by creating documents with enough surface detail to look plausible to an inexperienced team.
Most of these schemes target buyers for EN590, jet fuel, gasoil, or crude who are trying to secure product in large European or global hubs. The way the deal is framed often reveals the problem.
| Scenario | How It Is Presented | Core Problem |
|---|---|---|
| "TBN" tanks | The buyer is told tank numbers are "to be nominated" and will be revealed only after payment of reservation or injection fees. | Legitimate terminals can confirm allocations and will not hide basic identifiers behind fee barriers. |
| Long reseller chains | Multiple intermediaries claim access to tanks on behalf of an unnamed producer or refinery. | No one in the chain can show direct tank control or a verifiable mandate from a real title holder. |
| "Storage about to expire" | The buyer is told storage will expire within days and must pay quickly to avoid product being sold elsewhere. | Time pressure is used to shut down verification and push buyers into rushed, irreversible payments. |
| Offshore or floating storage stories | Scammers claim to control offshore storage or vessels near a major hub with limited inspection access. | Shipping records, AIS data, and port agent checks often show no such vessel or no such cargo. |
No single warning sign proves fraud. When several appear together, the risk is high enough that a serious buyer should stop the process and carry out detailed checks before any payment leaves their account.
There is no way to erase risk completely from oil trading. There is a clear way to shrink the odds of being caught in a tank storage scam. Most of the steps are simple and repeatable once they are written into internal policy.
Control of tank space is a core part of many petroleum transactions. It affects title, logistics, and credit risk. Any storage claim that cannot stand up to direct confirmation, legal review, and contact with the terminal should be treated as a nonstarter, no matter how attractive the volume or margin looks on paper.
A buyer that insists on direct confirmations, clear contracts, and traceable documentation may walk away from offers that look fast and easy. That same discipline prevents large, unrecoverable losses and keeps trading teams focused on transactions that can be audited, financed, and defended if challenged.
Tank storage fraud is a scheme where parties pretend to control storage capacity or product in a terminal and use forged contracts, receipts, and inspection reports to extract upfront fees from buyers. The storage and product do not exist in the form described, and no deliverable cargo follows.
Large hubs handle significant volumes and host well known terminals. Fraudsters rely on that reputation. They copy names, photos, and logos of real terminals and assume many buyers will be impressed by the location and will not run serious checks across borders.
No. There are legitimate brokers and logistics intermediaries who add value. The risk increases when no one in the chain can show a direct mandate from a real title holder or a verifiable relationship with a terminal. If every answer relies on "our partner" and no one can be checked, the structure is weak.
In real transactions, banks and trade finance providers sometimes take tank storage receipts and related documents as part of a security package. They do this only after confirming authenticity with the issuing terminal and reviewing the full contractual chain. Any proposal to raise funds on the back of a TSR that cannot be verified should be treated with extreme caution.
Immediate steps usually include halting any further payments, gathering all documents and communications, and seeking advice from legal counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. In many cases, law enforcement or financial crime units should also be informed. Early, documented action offers the best chance of recovery, although outcomes vary by case.
Disclaimer: This page is for general information only and does not constitute legal, tax, investment, or regulatory advice. Examples of fraud patterns and documentation types are descriptive and do not refer to any specific person or entity. Parties active in petroleum trading should obtain independent professional advice and perform full due diligence before entering into any contract, paying any fee, or relying on any tank storage documentation.
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