Several blacklists of suspected fraudsters and whitelists of verified firms circulate in the oil trade. They are worth consulting before a deal, but each is compiled by a different operator to a different standard, and none is a final verdict. The points below are how to read them without being misled.
A listing is a claim, not a verdict
Every list reflects the standard of whoever compiles it; none constitutes a legal finding. It is not unusual for the same company to appear on one list, be absent from another, and sit on a third list as verified. Treat a listing as a starting point for further checks, not as the conclusion of them.
★ Forged blacklists are themselves a fraud
On 13 September 2024 the ICC Commercial Crime Services (ICC-CCS) publicly disowned blacklists being circulated to trading companies in its name. Its statement said the organisation "does not produce lists of this nature" and that "the contents are entirely false and should not be relied upon", describing the documents as "created by unknown parties and circulated with the intent of damaging the reputations of the listed companies". If a list arrives bearing an authoritative name, verify that the body actually published it — through that body’s own channel — before reading a single entry.
Fake-website lists are not company lists
The largest lists often catalogue domains rather than companies. The storage-spoofing list run by the Port of Rotterdam Authority and FERM is the clearest example: entries carry notes such as "abuse of company name", because what is listed is the counterfeit site imitating a legitimate operator, not the operator itself. Read such a list by company name and you will mistake the victim for the offender. Check the exact domain your counterparty wrote to you from, character by character.
Absence from a whitelist proves nothing
Whitelist operators say so themselves: the list is not exhaustive, and companies not on it should not therefore be treated as suspect. A whitelist gathers a limited set of confirmed-safe entities; it is not a verdict rendered over the whole industry.
Vet the list before you trust it
Five questions gauge how much weight a list deserves: (1) is the operator identifiable as a named person or legal entity; (2) are the grounds for listing and the verification process disclosed; (3) when was it last updated; (4) is there a channel for a listed party to object; (5) is money demanded in exchange for removal. Lists that name no operator, stopped updating years ago and offer no appeal remain online — and still rank highly in search results.
Sanctions lists are a different instrument
Sanctions lists issued by OFAC, the EU, the UN and the UK OFSI do not belong on the same shelf as industry scam alerts: they are issued by governments on a legal basis, compliance is mandatory, and both designation and delisting follow formal procedure. The White/Grey/Black lists of the Paris and Tokyo MoUs likewise rest on official statistics — but they rate a vessel’s flag state, not a company, and the two must not be conflated.
Confirm at the source, always
No list substitutes for verification. Confirm tankage with the terminal operator, cargo origin with the refinery and load port, and the vessel with its class society and flag administration. A list is useful up to the point of telling you where to dig; the digging itself happens at the source.
This reference explains published industry norms and standards. It does not replace the terms of an individual contract, nor legal or tax advice — and it carries no prices; the price board does that.