FAL Oil suspends restructuring talks
United Arab Emirates-based trader FAL Oil Co. (FAL) suspended debt restructuring talks with lenders on December 10, 2012 but plans to resume them later this month, Bloomberg reports.
FAL has been placed under U.S. restrictions for working with Iran, but a report by Platts linked the firm to Iranian bunker exports as recently as November.
Reported to have once been one of the largest ship-fuel suppliers in the U.A.E., FAL is now trying to revive fuel supply agreements with regional state providers in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, and in the Horn of Africa so it can give lenders evidence of its ability to generate revenue, according to an anonymous company official quoted by Bloomberg.
The trader of marine fuel and other refined products is attempting to extend maturity of about $700 million in loans that are in default after restructuring talks with 14 lenders failed to move forward last month.
In April, sources reported that the company had cut operations by more than 60 percent after U.S. sanctions made it difficult for the company to secure new business.
