Morocco’s only refiner, Samir has not been successful with plans to reach an agreement to unload a crude oil cargo that has been sitting off the coast of Morocco for almost a year.

This is coming a week after the Moroccan courts granted the refiner another six months to resume production, so as to attract a buyer during that process.

The vessel, the Delta Tolmi, which arrived off the coast of Mohammedia with 1 million barrels of crude in August 2015 is currently on its way to northwest Europe, in search of another buyer.

According to a source close to the company, Samir was unable to discharge the oil due to its current debt issues, which has prevented the Islamic Development Bank from awarding it the property title required to unload the cargo at its refinery. The Islamic Development Bank has a contract to finance Samir's crude oil imports, but the two had failed to arrive at an agreement because of the debt issues.

The departure of the vessel, is another setback to Samir’s efforts to resume operations close to a year after it was shut down because of liquidity problems, making the country depend on imports at a time when Morocco is recovering its finances back by confronting huge shortfalls.

The refiner has also been battling with its creditors which includes oil traders and banks who it owed millions. According to the Moroccan government, Samir owes 13 billion dirhams in taxes and its total arrears have reached about 44 billion dirhams.

While the company’s efforts to purchase more crude through tenders have so far been in vain, officials from the company have said that negotiations are still ongoing, Reuters reports.

Anita Fatunji