EN590 is the European standard specification for road diesel fuel. It defines the quality parameters for automotive diesel including sulphur content (max 10 ppm), cetane number, density, and cold flow properties. It is one of the most traded and most fraudulently misrepresented petroleum products globally.

What does ICPO stand for and what is it used for?

ICPO stands for Irrevocable Corporate Purchase Order. It is a document issued by the buyer expressing a firm, irrevocable commitment to purchase a specified product at agreed terms. It is the standard first step in an EN590 transaction — but it only has commercial value when issued to a verified seller with confirmed product.

What is a soft probe and is it legitimate?

A "soft probe" is not a recognised standard term in international commodity trade. It is primarily used in fraudulent transaction structures to justify an upfront fee request. Legitimate transactions do not require soft probes.

What is the difference between CIF and FOB in EN590 trade?

CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) means the seller is responsible for delivering product to the named destination port, including shipping and insurance. FOB (Free on Board) means the seller delivers to the named loading port and responsibility transfers to the buyer once the product is on board. Most legitimate EN590 large-volume trades are structured FOB loading port with buyer-nominated vessel.

EN590 Seller Verification, Red Flags & Fraud Prevention — Complete Fuel Trade Guide

Petroleum fraud — particularly around EN590 road diesel — is among the most pervasive scams in physical commodity trade. This guide covers how to verify an EN590 seller step by step, how to identify and avoid EN590 fraud, how to verify SGS inspection reports independently, how to detect fake Proof of Product (POP) documents, a tank storage scam checklist, and how refinery allocations actually work.

How to Verify an EN590 Seller

Verifying an EN590 seller is not a single step — it is a structured sequence of checks that must happen before any ICPO is issued, any LOI is signed, and long before any payment instrument is opened. The following sequence is the industry standard for legitimate EN590 verification:

Confirm the legal entity — Request the company registration certificate, certificate of incorporation, and trading licence. Verify directly against the national company registry of the declared jurisdiction. Check registration date — companies under 12 months old trading EN590 volumes over 50,000 MT are a major red flag.
Verify the mandate or ownership chain — Ask the seller: are you the refinery, a licensed offtake holder, or a broker? Each requires a different verification approach. An offtake holder must show their long-term supply agreement. A broker must identify their principal and allow direct contact.
Authenticate the Proof of Product — Request the POP package: SGS/Intertek inspection certificate, refinery allocation letter or tank storage agreement, Certificate of Origin, and relevant product specification sheet. Verify each with the issuing authority — not with the seller.
KYC the beneficial owners — Identify and verify all beneficial owners and signing directors. Screen against OFAC, EU, UN, FATF, and FinCEN consolidated sanctions lists. A single sanctions hit on a director is grounds for immediate termination of discussions.
Confirm product location via independent inspector — Before issuing any LOI or ICPO, arrange for an independent SGS, Bureau Veritas, or Intertek inspector to physically confirm product at the claimed location. Seller refusal at this stage is a definitive scam signal.
Structure payment as LC — never T/T — Use an Irrevocable Letter of Credit (LC) or Standby LC as the payment instrument. Never transfer funds via SWIFT T/T prior to independent inspection confirmation. Any seller insisting on T/T is not operating a legitimate transaction.

Top 10 Red Flags in Fuel Trading

These are the ten most consistent warning signs observed in EN590, D2, JP54, and petroleum product fraud cases. Any one of these alone warrants heightened scrutiny. More than two in the same transaction is a near-certain fraud pattern.

No direct principal contact — The seller cannot or will not provide direct contact with the actual product owner (refinery, terminal, or mandate holder). All communication runs through a broker chain.
Upfront fee requests — Any request for "facilitation fees", "soft probe charges", "dip test fees", or "inspection deposits" before an independent inspector can verify product is a near-certain fraud signal.
Unverifiable SGS / Intertek reports — The report reference number cannot be confirmed when you call SGS or Intertek directly. Or the seller refuses to let you verify the report independently.
CIF pricing below spot market — EN590 offered significantly below the current Platts or ICIS benchmark. Legitimate sellers price at or above market — not 20–40% below it.
No ICPO / LOI process — immediate T/T demand — Legitimate transactions begin with an ICPO and LOI exchange, followed by an LC structure. Any seller demanding direct T/T before product verification is not a legitimate principal.
Over-complicated procedure documents — 10-page "trading procedures" with exotic abbreviations (PPOP, RWA, BCL, ASWP) that do not correspond to standard Incoterms or international trade practice. These are designed to confuse and delay while the fraudster extracts fees.
Refinery letter without verifiable contact — An allocation letter purportedly from a major refinery (Saudi Aramco, Rosneft, etc.) but with no verifiable email domain, telephone number, or contact name from public refinery directories.
Multiple brokers in the chain — The "seller" is actually a 4th- or 5th-tier intermediary with no direct relationship to product. Each layer adds fraud risk and dilutes accountability.
Refusal to meet at the terminal — A genuine seller with physical product in storage will agree to an independent inspector visiting the terminal. Refusal or delay is a strong scam indicator.
No legal entity verifiable in public records — The trading company cannot be found in national company registries, has a registration date within the last 6 months, or the address is a virtual office with no physical presence.

How Fake POP Documents Are Detected

Proof of Product (POP) document forgery is the most technically advanced component of fuel trade fraud. Modern fraudsters produce highly convincing SGS certificates, tank storage agreements, and refinery allocation letters. Here is how experienced buyers and compliance teams identify forgeries:

Inconsistent fonts or formatting: Legitimate SGS, Bureau Veritas, or Intertek certificates use standardised templates. Font inconsistencies, misaligned columns, or mixed date formats are common forgery tells.
Report number not in issuer's system: When you call the inspection company's regional office with the certificate number, they cannot locate it or confirm its authenticity.
Generic rather than location-specific: Authentic inspection certificates always name the exact terminal, tank number, inspector name, and date of inspection. Generic language ("storage facility in Rotterdam") without specifics is a red flag.
Mismatch with Incoterm or port: The POP package claims CIF delivery but the inspection certificate references an inland location. Or the Certificate of Origin shows a country inconsistent with the claimed refinery.
Refinery letter with no letterhead metadata: PDF metadata (viewable in document properties) shows the letter was created in a word processor — not printed on letterhead and scanned. Author field shows an individual name, not a corporate system.
Tank certificate without terminal operator confirmation: A Tank Storage Agreement that lists a terminal but the terminal operator — reached directly — has no record of the product or the claiming company.

The only reliable POP verification is source confirmation. No amount of document analysis replaces direct confirmation with the original issuing authority. Call SGS. Call the terminal operator. Call the refinery. If the seller objects to you contacting the issuing authority directly — the documents are fake.

How to Verify SGS Reports

SGS (Société Générale de Surveillance) inspection reports are the gold standard for commodity product verification — which is exactly why they are the most frequently forged. Here is the correct verification procedure:

Locate the report reference number — Every SGS Inspection Report carries a unique reference number (e.g. SGSXXXXXX). Do not rely on the PDF header alone — cross-check against the report footer and certificate page.
Contact SGS directly — not via the seller — Go to sgs.com to find the regional office contact for the country of inspection. Do not use any contact details provided by the seller. Call or email the regional office independently.
Request certificate verification by reference — Provide the report reference number to SGS and ask them to confirm: (a) the certificate exists, (b) the product type, quantity, and inspection date match the document, and (c) the named client on the report.
Verify the inspector's name and ID — SGS can confirm the inspector name on the certificate is a current or former employee assigned to that facility on that date.
Cross-check the terminal location — Confirm with SGS that the inspection took place at the named terminal — and separately verify that the terminal exists and is operated by the claimed operator.
Check the SGS digital seal if present — SGS issues digital certificates with QR codes or verification links on documents since approximately 2018. If the document predates QR verification but the seller claims it is recent, that is a discrepancy.

Important: SGS does not operate a public online certificate lookup for most inspection types. Verification requires a direct call or email to the regional office. Any website claiming to offer instant SGS certificate verification is not an official SGS service.

Tank Storage Scam Checklist

Tank storage fraud is the claim that product is physically stored at a terminal when it is not. The seller presents a fabricated Tank Storage Agreement (TSA) or tank certificate to simulate product ownership. Use this checklist before issuing any LOI or payment instrument:

Seller cannot name the terminal operator — RED FLAG
Terminal operator has no record of the product when contacted directly — RED FLAG
Tank Storage Agreement (TSA) lacks terminal operator signature — RED FLAG
TSA is on company letterhead — not terminal-issued documentation — RED FLAG
"Tank certificate" shows generic coordinates rather than a named facility — RED FLAG
Independent inspector visit is delayed, restricted, or not agreed to — RED FLAG
Product quantity claimed is unusually round (e.g. exactly 50,000 MT, 100,000 BBL) — RED FLAG
Terminal name matches a real facility but capacity claimed exceeds its known storage — RED FLAG
Seller agrees to inspection but insists on a specific seller-appointed inspector — RED FLAG
Terminal is in a jurisdiction with limited public port records (makes cross-checking harder) — RED FLAG

The correct tank verification standard: The only acceptable tank verification is an independent physical inspection arranged by the buyer — not the seller — through SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek, or a Lloyd's-accredited inspector. The inspection company is chosen by the buyer, paid by the buyer (later recovered in the deal structure), and the inspector goes to the terminal unaccompanied by the seller.

How Refinery Allocations Really Work

Refinery allocation fraud is the single most common form of high-volume EN590 and crude oil scam. Understanding how real allocations work makes it immediately obvious when a claimed allocation is fake. Here is the actual commercial structure:

Allocations flow downward from the refinery: A refinery issues allocation letters to its official trading arms or long-standing offtake agreement holders — not to spot brokers. Any entity claiming a refinery allocation without a named offtake agreement or term contract should be treated with extreme scrutiny.
Allocation letters are not publicly transferable: An allocation letter grants a specific named entity the right to lift a specific quantity of product from a named facility in a defined lifting window. It cannot be "re-sold" or passed through a broker chain. If a seller is passing an allocation letter to you, they are not the entitled party.
Lifting windows are narrow and specific: Real allocations specify a loading port, a laycan (loading window), a product grade and quantity, and an inspector. "Open-ended" or perpetually rolling allocations are not real allocation structures.
Refinery contact details are public knowledge: Saudi Aramco, Rosneft, TotalEnergies, BP, and every major refinery have verifiable public contact details — on their corporate websites, in Platts, ICIS, and Argus directories. If a seller's allocation letter contains contact information not findable in any of these sources, the letter should be considered fraudulent.
Mandates require a visible principal chain: A legitimate mandate holder can produce: the original allocation letter, proof of their contractual relationship with the refinery, and a verifiable contact at the refinery who can confirm the mandate. If any of these three cannot be produced, the mandate is not real.
Price is set by formula — not negotiated by brokers: Refinery allocation pricing is typically formula-based, referencing Platts, ICIS or Argus benchmarks with a fixed differential. Any seller quoting prices far below benchmark is either not using a real allocation or is fraudulently misrepresenting the product grade.

Reality check: If someone offers you "access to a refinery allocation" via email, LinkedIn, or WhatsApp, and cannot demonstrate a direct contractual relationship with the refinery — they do not have an allocation. They have a PDF. The allocation does not exist.

Quick Reference Q&A

What is EN590?: EN590 is the European standard specification for road diesel fuel. It defines the quality parameters for automotive diesel including sulphur content (max 10 ppm), cetane number, density, and cold flow properties. It is one of the most traded and most fraudulently misrepresented petroleum products globally.
What does ICPO stand for and what is it used for?: ICPO stands for Irrevocable Corporate Purchase Order. It is a document issued by the buyer expressing a firm, irrevocable commitment to purchase a specified product at agreed terms. It is the standard first step in an EN590 transaction — but it only has commercial value when issued to a verified seller with confirmed product.
What is a soft probe and is it legitimate?: A "soft probe" is not a recognised standard term in international commodity trade. It is primarily used in fraudulent transaction structures to justify an upfront fee request. Legitimate transactions do not require soft probes.
What is the difference between CIF and FOB in EN590 trade?: CIF (Cost, Insurance, Freight) means the seller is responsible for delivering product to the named destination port, including shipping and insurance. FOB (Free on Board) means the seller delivers to the named loading port and responsibility transfers to the buyer once the product is on board. Most legitimate EN590 large-volume trades are structured FOB loading port with buyer-nominated vessel.

Supplier Verification Guide — Step-by-Step EN590 & Refinery Checks →

Counterparty Due Diligence & KYC Validation Guide →