How to Verify an Oil Storage Terminal Before You Pay: Due-Diligence Checks

Why verify an oil storage terminal before you pay?

A typical offer says the oil is already sitting in a well-known terminal. Before any money moves, buyers, banks and brokers should verify the oil storage terminal itself, the seller's position in it and the seller's title to the product. Storage claims are easy to fake and hard to check from a desk.

Rotterdam shows the scale. Its storage-spoofing reporting point is run by The Commodity Traders (TCT) with the Seaport Police, the Port of Rotterdam Authority and the tank storage association. It registered $10 million of fraud payments in 2025 and $2.2 million by June 2026, Dutch broadcaster NOS reported. TCT said it had stopped nearly $1.3 billion of fraudulent offers in 2026 alone, and called the registered losses only the tip of the iceberg, because many victims never report ^[1]. The blacklist then held about 1,400 fake websites ^[1].

Real terminals are victims too. NOS reported that fraudsters misused the name of Standic, a Dutch storage company whose commercial director said it stores no petroleum products in its tanks at all ^[1]. The five steps below focus on the storage claim. For checks on the counterparty itself, see our crude oil seller KYC checklist.

Step 1 — Is the terminal real, and who runs it?

Start with the terminal, not the seller. Confirm that a facility of that name exists at that port, who owns and operates it, and which products it handles.

Industry associations. VOTOB, the Dutch Association of Tank Storage Companies, lists its 21 member terminals, with 30 million cubic metres of capacity for crude oil, oil products, chemicals and edible oils. It has no storage of its own and tells anyone looking for storage to call a member directly ^[2]. At European level, the Federation of European Tank Storage Associations (FETSA) represents more than 140 companies operating about 700 terminals ^[3]. The International Liquid Terminals Association (ILTA) publishes a list of its terminal member companies, many with links to their websites ^[4]. A listing is no guarantee, but it gives you an independent route to the real company.

Port authorities and zones. The Rotterdam taskforce suggests checking the Port of Rotterdam Authority's Facts & Figures brochure, which lists companies and terminals. It adds that a company operating in the port has a Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) registration, and that one unable to provide it is not legally registered to do business there ^[5]. In Fujairah, the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone (FOIZ) is the authority that manages the land used for storage and refining; in 2021, 13 companies reported weekly inventories to it ^[6].

Product fit. Check that the terminal handles the product on offer. The Standic case shows why: an offer of diesel in a terminal that holds no petroleum products fails at once ^[1].

Step 2 — How should you contact the terminal?

Use only contact details you find yourself, such as the operator's website reached through an association or port listing. Never rely on phone numbers, email addresses or "terminal representatives" supplied by the seller. Standic's director noted that fraudsters can also use the names and contact details of real employees, not just the company name ^[1]. Terminal operator Advario warns that impostors use its name, terminal names and logos, often with false documents, to seek payments, and asks those approached to contact the company and the authorities ^[7].

Ask the terminal to confirm in writing, from its own domain, whether a named document, website or email address is genuine. Be realistic about what else it will say. Under the VOTOB general terms and conditions for tank storage (2023), a Dutch terminal "is only held to provide information about Goods to the Client or to its legal representative", or to the holder of a store warrant. It may also demand proof of entitlement ^[8]. A genuine terminal will rarely discuss a customer's stock with a stranger. Do not accept the seller's paperwork instead: have the seller, as the terminal's client, instruct the terminal in writing to confirm the facts to you directly.

Step 3 — Does the seller really hold a storage contract and title?

A seller with product in a terminal should be the terminal's client under a storage agreement, or hold a store warrant issued by the terminal. Ask for the agreement reference and tank numbers. Then ask the terminal, on the seller's written instruction, to confirm the client's name, product, quantity and any restrictions.

Transfers inside a terminal follow set rules. Under the VOTOB conditions, the client must notify the terminal in writing of any transfer of ownership, and the new owner must accept the storage agreement in writing. The terminal need not recognise a transfer until all claims against the transferring client are paid, and it holds a right of pledge and lien over stored goods ^[8]. Ask whether storage fees are paid up and whether the product is pledged to a bank.

English law makes the same point. When goods are held by a third party, there is no delivery to the buyer "unless and until the third person acknowledges to the buyer" that it holds them on the buyer's behalf ^[9]. In practice, that means the terminal confirming to you that the product is now held for your account.

In-tank transfer terms published on QatarEnergy's website describe delivery "from one storage tank into another tank in the same storage facility", with quantity determined by the terminal operator. Under those terms, a buyer may appoint its own inspector only with the storage company's prior agreement ^[10]. Either way, a real buyer ends up with a direct relationship with the terminal.

Step 4 — How do you check documents, domains and sanctions?

Inspection documents. The Rotterdam taskforce says a genuine offer should come with a quality and quantity report from an inspection company working in the port, plus an injection report from the storage company ^[5]. Verify every certificate with its issuer. SGS, for example, offers a free service to check whether SGS-branded documents are genuine ^[11]. Treat videos and samples with caution. The Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant reported 2021 footage of a man in safety gear, identified as an inspection firm employee, filling bottles from a tank valve at a refinery in Pernis while another man filmed, with a newspaper as a date stamp ^[12].

Domains. Look up the domain behind every email and website. ICANN's lookup tool shows public registration data for a domain name, although personal data may be redacted ^[13]. Compare the creation date and registrant country with the company's claimed history and location. Of 421 fraudulent storage sites identified by de Volkskrant, more than 40% were registered in the United States and about 30% in Russia ^[12]. Check every domain against the storage-spoofing blacklist ^[5].

Sanctions. Screen the terminal operator and its owners, not only the seller. On 8 May 2025 the US Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated three port terminal operators at Dongying Port in China's Shandong province, including the terminal's current and former controlling shareholders, in an action over Iranian oil ^[14]. The KYC checklist linked above explains how to search the UN, EU, UK and US lists.

Step 5 — How do you secure the payment?

Never pay to see, verify or release product. The Rotterdam taskforce says payment requests for an "Authorization to Verify" or a "Dip Test Authorization" are "wrong by definition", and that upfront fees for document endorsement, tank farm access or storage extension call for caution ^[5].

Tie the money to documents you trust. Under the International Chamber of Commerce's rules for documentary credits (UCP 600), "banks deal with documents and not with the goods" ^[15]. A letter of credit therefore protects the buyer only as well as the documents it requires. Ask for documents the seller cannot produce alone, such as the terminal's confirmation that the product is held for your account and a certificate from an inspector you appointed.

Escrow needs the same care. Choose the escrow agent yourself and verify it independently. California's Department of Financial Protection and Innovation warns that a party who insists on a particular escrow company "is probably trying to steer you towards a fraudulent escrow services site" ^[16]. Pay only into an account in the seller's own name, confirmed bank to bank.

What should you do if you suspect storage fraud?

Stop any payment and keep every email, document and web address. Then report it:

• The terminal, through the contact page on its official website, so it can warn others and alert the authorities ^[7].
• The Rotterdam reporting point, for Dutch storage offers, at info@storagespoofing.nl. It collects suspicious websites but cannot investigate individual cases ^[5].
• Your bank, at once, if money has left. Speed matters: in 2025 the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) Recovery Asset Team froze $679 million of $1.16 billion in attempted theft, including $172 million in international cases ^[17].
• The police where you are based. In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the Report Fraud service replaced Action Fraud on 4 December 2025; in Scotland, victims should call Police Scotland on 101 ^[18].

Alupetra applies these storage checks in its KYC and due diligence work from its Istanbul, London and Dubai offices.