ABSTRACT

Drawing on a wide range of case studies in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, this chapter addresses smuggling of both refined and unrefined hydrocarbon products by working through the levels of the supply chain: upstream; midstream; and downstream. Analysing the supply chain, the actors that are in control of each element, and the operating environment in which the activities take place, is an effective way of illustrating how different forms of oil and fuel smuggling function. Such an analysis can reveal much about the underlying power relations in the state in question, the capacities of its institutions and the reach of its capacities for enforcement. Nevertheless, while it is helpful to identify when and how petroleum products are diverted from the supply chain, the reality is that smuggling dynamics tend to be fluid and may be present at all levels, as a contemporary analysis of fuel smuggling dynamics in Libya illustrates. The chapter concludes that the challenges associated with preventing smuggling become greater as the degree of penetration of the profiteers up the supply chain increases.