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Reuters
By Aziz El Yaakoubi
RABAT (Reuters) – A Moroccan court has postponed for a week a decision on an appeal made by the owner of the country’s sole oil refiner Samir against a ruling that placed it into liquidation, its lawyer said on Wednesday.
The case of Samir is being closely watched by Morocco’s government. Morocco would become reliant on energy imports should the refinery shut down for good, just as the North African kingdom is putting its finances on track by tackling huge deficits.
Samir, controlled by Corral Petroleum Holdings, halted production last August due to financial difficulties. A court ruling had placed it into liquidation in March and named an independent trustee to run the company.
Corral Holding lodged an appeal against the decision after talks with the government failed to to find a solution to the refinery’s crisis.
“The ruling on the appeal has been postponed until May 11,” Corral Holding’s lawyer Abdelkbir Tabih said.
Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi is the owner of Corral Holdings which controls 67.26 pct of Samir.
Morocco’s tax administration seized the company’s bank accounts in August 2015, when the refinery was shut down, in pursuit of a 13 billion-dirham ($1.3 billion) tax claim. The Moroccan government has said Samir’s total debt hovers around 44 billion dirhams ($4.55 billion).
However, the trustee controlling Samir said last week the Commercial Court of Casablanca and the tax administration had lifted the freeze on its assets while it was working to restart production as quickly as possible.
The trustee has been struggling to resume production at the company’s 200,000 barrel per day complex within the three months set by the first court ruling. Morocco’s government thinks restarting production would attract potential buyers for Samir.
(Reporting By Aziz El Yaakoubi; Editing by Patrick Markey and Keith Weir)
