Morocco gets $3bn offer to purchase its sole oil refinery

Morocco’s only oil refiner, Samir, has received a $3 billion offer from an Italian law firm operating on behalf of an unnamed bidder, Reuters has reported.

Samir’s management said however, that they would press ahead with plans to seek expressions of interest from other potential buyers.

A company official, who declined to be named, told Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu Agency that the offer exceeded the company’s value.

A union official in Samir, Al-Hussein Al-Yamani, said that his union was “waiting for the court’s official announcement of liquidating the company and the beginning of submitting offers [for us to make an offer to] purchase it. We emphasise the need to guarantee our rights and privileges as employees in Samir.”

Samir which is partially owned by Yemeni-Saudi billionaire Mohammed Al-Amoudi’s Corral Holdings has been battling creditors ranging from oil traders to banks.

The Moroccan government says Samir owes it $1.3 billion in taxes and its total debt is hovering around $4.5 billion.

The company used to provide 60 per cent of the Moroccan market’s need of fuel derivatives.