Swiss commodity trading companies take advantage of weak fuel standards in Africa to produce, deliver and sell diesel and gasoline, which is damaging to people’s health. Their business model relies on an illegitimate strategy of deliberately lowering the quality of fuels in order to increase their profits. Using a common industry practice called blending, trading companies mix cheap but toxic intermediate petroleum products to make what the industry calls “African Quality” fuels. These intermediate products contain high levels of sulphur as well as other toxic substances such as benzene and aromatics. By selling such fuels at the pump in Africa, the traders increase outdoor air pollution, causing respiratory disease and premature death. This affects West Africa, in particular, because this is the region where the authorised levels of sulphur in fuels remain very high.

[refers to Trafigura, Vitol, Puma Energy, Addax & Oryx Group, Lynx Energy, Glencore, Gunvor, Mocoh, Mercuria, Vivo (joint venture Vitol, Helios Investment Partners, Shell), Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo, BP, Total, Litasco (part of Lukoil)]