A digital letter of credit (L/C) provided by the Komgo financing platform is to feature in crude oil deals conducted on a live blockchain-based platform called Vakt that recently went live.

Geneva-based Komgo's backers are ABN Amro, BNP Paribas, Citibank, Crédit Agricole, Gunvor, ING, Koch, Macquarie, Mercuria, MUFG Bank, Natixis, Rabobank, Shell, SGS and Societe Generale. It is managed as and operated as an independent entity.

London-based platform Vakt meanwhile has been established as the logistics platform to manage the blockchain-based crude oil sales. The platform that went live at the end of November.

Oil majors

Vakt was established in 2017 by a consortium that includes oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell, Norway's Equinor and trading firms Mercuria Energy Group and Koch Supply and Trading as well as banks ABN Amro, ING and Société Générale.

These firms will initially be the only users of Vakt but access will be opened up in January 2019.

Platform roles

Vakt digitises and centralises logistics documents shared between all the parties involved in each deal.

Its link up with financial platform Komgo and its L/Cs provides Vakt with access to several banks.

This article represents the views of the author and not necessarily those of the ICC or Coastline Solutions.