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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The Liberian Refinery, a Look Inside a Partially Open Door
Author:Farmer, Garland R.
Year:1989
Periodical:Liberian Studies Journal
Volume:14
Issue:1
Pages:1-12
Language:English
Geographic term:Liberia
Subjects:economic policy
petroleum refineries
Economics and Trade
Development and Technology
Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
Abstract:Liberia has a rich history from which to draw guidance in assessing foreign investment and the inducements used to attract it. Few projects established under Liberia's Open Door Policy have endured and survived such controversy as the Liberian Petroleum Refining Corporation (LPRC) and its predecessor, the Liberian Refining Company (LRC). The refinery was the brainchild of 'Texas oilman' A.W. Hutchings, who came to Liberia in 1961, and interested the Hunt International Petroleum Company in the project. In 1963 Hunt sold its concession to the LRC, and in 1972 the last of the 'Texas oilmen' pulled out. In 1977, the Government took over the refinery, Minister of Commerce, W.E. Dennis, stressing the 'ridiculously low' debt-to-equity ratio, and adding that the investors had been taking their money out in the form of dividends and 'massive interest and principal payments'. Within weeks, the LRC was succeeded by the LPRC. Together with the survey of the refinery's finances, this short history helps provide some sense of the puffery, the peddling and buying of influence, and the complicated financial arrangements which sometimes surrounded projects launched in Liberia during the 1960s.
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