How to Avoid Petroleum Trading Scams: A Buyer’s Checklist

The global petroleum market—EN590 diesel, Jet Fuel A1, D6 fuel oil—is high-value and high-risk. For every legitimate supplier, there are dozens of fake offers, daisy-chain brokers, and fabricated documents.

If you’re a serious buyer, knowing how to verify a real deal is critical.

In this guide, we’ll cover:

• Why petroleum scams are so common
• Red flags that signal a fake deal
• Essential documents you must verify
• How to structure a secure transaction

Why Are Petroleum Scams So Common?

1. High transaction values – one deal can be worth tens of millions of dollars.
2. Opaque supply chains – buyers often don’t have direct refinery access.
3. Too many intermediaries – long broker chains with no real allocation.
4. Misunderstood procedures – many don’t know how POP, TSR, or SPA processes work.

Scammers exploit this by offering too-good-to-be-true pricing or pretending to have terminal access they don’t actually control.

5 Red Flags in Petroleum Trading

1. Unrealistic pricing
   • If the price is far below Platts or Argus benchmarks, it’s likely fake.
2. No verifiable terminal location
   • Real product must be linked to a refinery or bonded storage terminal.
3. Chain of brokers
   • If you see endless NCNDAs with 10+ intermediaries, the deal is not clean.
4. Demanding upfront “registration fees”
   • Legitimate sellers do not ask buyers for arbitrary fees.
5. No POP (Proof of Product)
   • A seller who refuses to show Tank Storage Receipt, SGS Report, or Injection Certificate is not real.

Essential Documents for a Real Transaction

A genuine supplier can provide:

• TSR (Tank Storage Receipt) – proves the product is stored in a terminal.
• SGS Q&Q Report – recent quality & quantity inspection.
• POP (Proof of Product) – bundle of refinery-issued documents.
• SPA (Sales & Purchase Agreement) – clearly outlines terms.

Always verify these documents directly with the terminal or refinery, not just a PDF.

How to Structure a Secure Deal

1. Start with a Soft Corporate Offer (SCO) – outlines volume, specs, pricing.
2. Buyer issues ICPO + POF – Proof of Funds (SBLC, LC, or escrow).
3. Seller issues draft SPA – legal contract with delivery terms.
4. POP issued after POF – SGS reports, TSR, CI, etc.
5. Title transfer only after SGS inspection – before final payment release.

If a “seller” cannot follow this standard ICC-compliant flow, walk away.

How Saurin Inc Protects Buyers

We operate only with refinery mandates and bonded terminal allocations, ensuring:

• ✅ POP verification before title transfer
• ✅ Terminal access confirmation at Rotterdam, Fujairah, Houston
• ✅ ICC-compliant payment instruments (SBLC, LC, escrow)
• ✅ No speculative broker chains

Stay Safe. Source Verified.

If you’re a serious buyer and want secure, transparent petroleum supply, contact us today.

📧 sam@saurininc.com
📱 +1 706 587 6182 (WhatsApp)