Investigations into the unnamed petrochemical company accused of conducting an 11-year-long oil smuggling racket to France and other European countries via the port of Yanbu has been finalized for submission to the authorities. The Control and Investigation Board will carry on the investigation with all parties involved in the oil smuggling operation. The case will be then referred to the Administrative Court for its ruling. Sources said that Ali Abu Zaid, the chief of Customs at Yanbu's King Fahd Industrial Port, was dismissed following the discovery of the oil smuggling operation and was replaced by Saad Al-Bugami. But Abu Zaid has rejected his dismissal saying that he was appointed as a port adviser long before the discovery of the smuggling case. The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has suspended the license of the company involved and granted the license to a different company based in Yanbu. The suspected company was granted permission in 1986 to set up the first petrochemical production company in the Kingdom and was part of a trade group operating on three continents that also set up the largest energy project in East Asia. The company produced from its refineries in Yanbu olefin, solvents, paints, insecticides and other chemicals. It began smuggling oil abroad when the Aramco refinery at Yanbu Industrial City sought recipients for surplus crude oil. It offered the crude at prices much lower than global rates. The company exploited its license to export used oil and used it as a cover to export the crude. The crude was smuggled through the company's used-oil tanks by emptying them into pipelines feeding tankers docked at Yanbu's King Fahd Industrial Port. The oil was then taken to European countries. Yanbu's proximity to Europe renders it particularly advantageous for exporters to Europe compared to the far longer journeys required from the Arabian Gulf. The company employed oil tankers rented from maritime transport companies whose task was solely to take on consignments and unload them at the required destination. The 11-year deception was only uncovered when a dispute broke out between company partners, one of whom then informed the Customs Department of the smuggling operation. Authorities verified the truth from the tip-off by testing oil ready for exportation. The Customs Department is now reportedly putting in place sophisticated measures, including X-ray scanning systems, to check the contents of containers, trucks and vehicles working between Yanbu's commercial port and King Fahd Industrial Port. A committee from the Administrative Investigations Department and Ministry of Petroleum earlier revealed that the owner of the company and 10 others working for companies in the petrochemical sector had been identified as the main players in the smuggling operation. The principal company implicated in the scam has yet to be named by authorities, or the individuals accused of involvement.
