Why “Discount FOB Rotterdam” Fuel Offers Waste Your Time

Why “Discount FOB Rotterdam” Fuel Offers Waste Your Time

Why “Discount FOB Rotterdam” Fuel Offers Waste Your Time

The pitch is always the same. Jet fuel, D2 or EN590 in Rotterdam at a big discount, zero prepayment, fat broker commissions, dip and pay, everyone gets rich by Friday. In the real market, barrels are pre-financed, priced off Platts with tight differentials, hedged, and moved by qualified traders who live and die by basis risk and credit lines. There is no risk free arbitrage. Chasing these posts is ignorance at best, foolishness and cupidity at worst.

Outcome: understand how the supply chain actually works, what real skin in the game looks like, and use an investor checklist that exposes fake oil deals in minutes.

How The Petroleum Supply Chain Actually Works

Production and title
Refineries and majors sell to vetted counterparties. Title moves under standard SPA terms with bankable custody and documented Q&Q.
Logistics and custody
Pipelines, barges, tanks, and terminals track custody by ticket and meter. Releases follow strict rules, not random PDFs and screenshots.
Pricing and hedging
Transactions price against Platts. Traders hedge with paper to lock margin cents. Deep discounts to spot do not exist without a catch that kills you on the next line of the contract.
Credit and compliance
Banks exchange RMA, run KYC and sanctions, and require clean files before any SWIFT. Anonymous broker chains never make it past this gate.

There Is No Risk Free Arbitrage

Claim Reality
“EN590 at 20 to 30 percent off” Spot pricing uses Platts with narrow diffs. If a discount were real, the seller would lift it themselves, hedge, and capture the spread.
“No prepayment, no credit lines needed” Every legitimate seller requires bank-backed payment or credit approval. Zero-credit “dip and pay” is story time.
“Commission 2 USD per barrel for brokers” Margins are hedged and measured in cents. Unvetted middlemen are not skimming dollars per barrel from majors.
“Hundreds of millions with no underwriting” Tickets of that size require heavy diligence, named banks, and verified custody. Shady sending banks and no audit trail mean fraud.

Skin In The Game A Real Buyer Must Show

Bank lines
Documentary LC, UPAS, or SBLC capacity with acceptable banks. Reimbursement terms known in advance.
Cash and collateral
Margin, reserves, or enforceable pledges. No bank funds a stranger on a handshake.
Operational control
Team, inspector slots, terminal relationships, and the ability to take and move product under schedule pressure.
Compliance
KYC pack, UBO map, sanctions comfort, and clean funds flow. If you cannot pass this, nothing else matters.

Investor Readiness Checklist That Exposes Fake Deals

Item What good looks like What the scam shows
Named counterparties Major, refiner, or tier one trader with verifiable coordinates “Allocation holder” with gmail and a logo pack
Bank to bank trail RMA open, acceptable advising and confirming banks, payment route agreed No RMA, no bank names, demands for NCNDA before basics
SPA and procedures Standard SPA, inspection and Q&Q, release rules, demurrage terms Random procedures that ignore industry practice, “you move first” games
Custody and storage Terminal-confirmed tickets, inspector bookings, verifiable tank numbers Screenshots, redacted “SGS,” tank leases no terminal will confirm
Pricing logic Platts based with tight diffs, hedging policy, financing costs identified Huge discounts, mystery “netback,” fantasy broker commissions
Compliance pack KYC, UBOs, sanctions, source of funds, insurance endorsements Nothing but a company profile and an NDA template
Execution history Past liftings and terminal references on letterhead Stories and selfies at a tank farm

Why Bot Farms Keep Pushing This Nonsense

  • They recycle PDFs and scrape names to look credible, then harvest data and deposits from the naive.
  • They build broker chains so no one owns the problem, which hides the fact there is no seller and no audit trail.
  • They bait you into a catch 22, pretending standard procedures do not exist, then demand fees to “prove” access.
  • They exploit greed with promises of easy per barrel commissions that do not exist in real logistics.

What A Bankable Procurement Route Looks Like

1) Readiness
Buyer KYC, RMA open, LC or UPAS capacity confirmed with bank names.
2) Counterparties
Major or tier one trader engaged, terminal and inspector lined up.
3) Paper
SPA, inspection protocol, release rules, pricing against Platts, hedging policy.
4) Funds flow
Bank to bank messages, drawdown, lift, and settlement with full audit trail.
If you are serious, get bankable, deal with named counterparties, and follow standard procedures. If you are chasing Telegram flyers with imaginary discounts, stop burning calendar and reputation. We can route real buyers to real sellers and set terms that clear credit.

Get A Bankable Fuel Procurement Plan

Share your volumes, specs, window, and bank names. We will return a route, fee grid, and timeline that passes credit.

Talk to the Team

This article is informational. Any procurement is subject to KYC and AML checks, sanctions screening, verified custody and title, and executed contracts. Pricing and terms are defined only by final agreements between named counterparties.

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