Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi, Corral Petroleum Holdings owner, is committed to injecting  $680m into its Moroccan refiner Samir, to try to reverse a decision placing it in liquidation, Reuters reported. Morocco’s sole refiner halted production in August 2015 due to financial difficulties, then a court ruling in March placed it in liquidation and named an independent trustee to run it.

According to Downstream Today, Abdelkbir Tabih, a lawyer from Corral, said Al-Amoudi asked also for legal redress instead of liquidation, and that the court had postponed a decision on Corral’s appeal against its ruling for a week until May 18th.

Dismissing accusations that Amoudi had already announced a $1.04b capital increase in September, and failed to keep his promise, Tabih said : “This is a commitment to a court, not to the shareholders”. Samir has been battling creditors ranging from oil traders to banks who are owed millions, and the Moroccan government which says it owes $1.4b in taxes.

Morocco would become reliant on energy imports should the refinery shut down, just at a time the North African kingdom is getting its finances back on track by tackling huge deficits.