Controversy arose about the parties involved in an oil deal in South Sudan recently, amid indirect accusations leveled at the British company Glencore, which was convicted of oil bribery in several countries, June last year (2022).
The crisis began with the entry of the South Sudanese-based “Trinity Energy” company into a financing agreement with Afrexim Bank, with the aim of providing the necessary financing for the success of the purchase of gasoline and diesel to meet the demand in the country, according to what was published by the Energy Voice website. ).
The agreement of the “Trinity Energy” company with the bank included securing the arrival of oil shipments from South Sudan, but the company sold oil shipments to the British company Glencore, according to what was followed by the specialized energy platform.
The oil deal controversy
Sentry, a fact-finding and investigative organization, said that an oil deal in South Sudan faced accusations of illegal trade and illegal acts such as: “bribes, tax evasion, and money laundering.”
She explained that the Trinity Company’s agreement with the bank damaged an oil deal in South Sudan, especially since the company is new to the oil trade, and despite that, it managed to seize 40% of the crude shipments for which the government signed contracts, during the period from June 2018 to May. May 2019.
The organization indicated that the company broke into the world of oil trade, although it was far from its competence, as it stated in the results of its investigations announced last February on its website.
On the other hand, the African Energy Chamber expressed its rejection of the accusations leveled by the “Sentry” organization’s report to the “Trinity Energy” company about surrounding an oil deal in South Sudan on suspicion of illegal business.
The Chamber stressed that the accusations contained in the results of the “Sentry” organization’s investigations were “misleading and unfair”, whether to Trinity or to the State of South Sudan, pointing to the role of local players and developers in facing the challenges of the oil sector in the country.
Trinity charges
Trinity Energy, which sold crude oil to Britain’s Glencore, has been accused of setting aside millions of dollars to spend on facilities to bring its deal with Afrexim Bank before a government committee, according to a Sentry report.
The organization also clarified that Trinity Energy resorted to the “black market”, and did not convert the US dollar – which it received from Glencore in exchange for shipments of an oil deal in southern Sudan – into the local South Sudanese pound.
While the African Energy Chamber criticized the focus of the “Sentry” investigations on the South Sudanese “Trinity” company, noting that the investigations accused a company that provides jobs and enhances the local economy, while it did not focus enough on the role of the British company Glencore.
The Chamber’s statement cited Glencore’s involvement in corruption before, and its conviction of bribery and various corruption crimes, until it was fined $1.5 billion.
international investigation
The Sentry report said that the South Sudanese government granted concessions to Trinity Energy, particularly with regard to imports of gasoline and diesel, supplying supplies to the army and their use in the country’s civil conflict.
The report highlighted that Glencore obtained privileged access to crude oil contracts; This allowed it to purchase and ship crude oil granted by the government to Trinity Company, with a value of $376 million in 2019.
The graph below – prepared by the specialized energy platform – shows the volume of oil production in South Sudan during the years from 2012 to 2021, according to data from the British oil company BP:
The Sentry organization recommended opening an investigation into the circumstances of the oil deal in South Sudan sponsored by the companies “Trinity Energy” and “Glencore”, calling on America, Britain, the European Union, Canada and Australia to track down the corrupt oil deals.
It also called on Afrexim Bank to launch a similar investigation into Trinity Energy’s practices, to see if the current South Sudanese government is supportive of it.
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) had pleaded guilty to Glencore after it admitted the charges against it of committing corruption and bribery crimes in 5 Arab and African countries, amounting to $28 million during the period from 2011 to 2016.
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