Scraping the Bottom of the Barrel

Millions of liters of government-subsidized black gold are being illegally carted off to foreign countries. Why is it so difficult to crack down on these smugglers?

October 23, 2000

THE government’s sincerity in tackling the puzzling mystery of missing fuel oil (BBM) has turned into a high-stakes poker game. How could it not? When the time came for the BBM price to be increased, while the state subsidies continue, various methods for manipulation of this black gold are still rampant. Not surprisingly, it seems that one of the forms, namely through smuggling overseas by way of the sea, has become an increasingly difficu

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