Proof-of-Product Documents Buyers Should Demand: TPT, SGS and Tank Storage Receipts

A seller sends a folder of PDFs and calls it proof of product. The folder looks complete. The question for a buyer is not whether the documents exist, but whether each one can be traced to an independent party who will confirm it. This guide covers the documents worth demanding, what each should prove, and how to test it before money or credit moves.

For the wider picture of what proof of product is and is not, start with our guide to proof of product in oil trading.

The Principle: Every Document Needs an Independent Issuer

A document the seller writes about its own product proves nothing. A document issued by a terminal operator, an inspection company or a producer is worth something only if you can reach that party yourself and ask. Build your request list around that test.

  • Who issued it? A named third party, not the seller.
  • Can I contact them independently? Use contact details you found yourself, never those printed on the document.
  • Does it tie to this deal? Product, quantity, location and dates should match the offer.

1. Tank Storage Receipt or Terminal Statement

This is the document buyers most often ask for and sellers most often fake.

What it should show:

  • The terminal name and location
  • The tank identifier
  • The product and grade
  • The quantity held and the date of the statement
  • The tenant or owner of the product in the tank

How to check it:

  1. Find the terminal’s own website or switchboard and confirm it exists and handles that product.
  2. Ask the operator to confirm the tank, tenant and product, within its confidentiality rules. Many will only confirm to the tenant, so ask the seller to authorise the check in writing.
  3. Be wary of editable files, screenshots and statements with no operator contact or reference number.
  4. Confirm the tenant named matches the seller, or that a documented chain connects them.

2. Independent Inspection Report (SGS and Peers)

Inspection companies such as SGS, Intertek and Saybolt issue quantity and quality reports. A genuine report carries a report number, date, location and the party that ordered it.

How to check it:

  • Contact the inspection company directly and ask it to confirm the report number, date and ordering party.
  • Check the quality figures against the grade in the offer.
  • Ask who instructed the inspection. A report ordered by the seller is weaker than one you or your agent commission.
  • Treat any report the inspector cannot find in its records as a failure, however polished it looks.

The most reliable approach is to commission your own inspector before funds move, with payment tied to the result.

3. TPT: Ask for a Written Definition

You will see “TPT” in seller documents and emails. The term is used loosely across the trade and is not a standard instrument with one agreed meaning. Do not accept it on trust.

  • Ask the seller to define it in writing: what is being transferred, from whom, to whom, and at which terminal or tank.
  • Ask for the terminal’s own written confirmation of any transfer, not the seller’s description of it.
  • Pay particular attention to any procedure that asks you to pay before the product is verified, or to fund a “transfer” step. Fees ahead of delivery are a warning sign.

A transfer procedure is only as sound as the independent records behind it.

4. Producer or Refinery Allocation

If the seller says it holds a supply right rather than stored product, ask for the allocation or contract with the producer. Check the volumes, period, grade and any restrictions on resale. Then confirm it with the producer through contact details you sourced yourself.

5. Certificate of Quality and Specification

This should match the grade you are being offered. Compare the figures to the specification in the offer and look for documents that are identical across different deals or sellers, which suggests recycling.

Documents That Prove Little on Their Own

  • Letters of “product availability” on the seller’s letterhead
  • Screenshots of tank readings or bank screens
  • Reports with no number or no reachable issuer
  • Quantities that never change however the conversation develops

Note that a genuine document can still be misused. A real tank receipt can be shown by someone with no right to sell what is in the tank, so also verify who controls the product. Our guide on how to verify a crude oil seller covers that side, and 5 red flags in petroleum deal documents shows what bad paperwork tends to look like.

When Documents Don’t Verify

  • Pause the deal. One failure does not always mean fraud, but it needs an explanation you can check.
  • Do not pay verification, validation or “release” fees to see or confirm product.
  • Keep the correspondence. It matters if you need to report an attempted fraud.
  • Escalate to someone independent before proceeding.

Related reading: how to vet a crude oil broker before you sign and diesel EN590 procurement without being defrauded.

Next Step

If you have a document package in front of you and want a second opinion on how to verify it, contact BarrelBridge. Tell us the product, the terminal named and the documents received, and we will help you work out what to check before you commit.