UK court freezes assets of businessman Abdulrahman Bashar, Ultimate Oil & Gas over $32m gasoil debt
A United Kingdom (UK) high court has granted a post-judgement worldwide freezing order against Abdulrahman Musa Bashar and Ultimate Oil & Gas FZCO over an unpaid multimillion-dollar gasoil debt owed to Petrichor Energy FZCO, a United Arab Emirates-based trading company.
The order followed an application by Petrichor to recover outstanding sums arising from fuel supply contracts, including obligations linked to a personal guarantee issued by Bashar.
Court documents show that in February 2025, Petrichor secured summary judgements against Ultimate and Bashar, with the court ordering the company to pay AED 22.8 million and Bashar to pay AED 122.1 million under the guarantee, in addition to interest and costs.
The dispute stems from multiple contracts for the supply of gasoil and Jet A1 fuel, beginning with five spot contracts and later a term agreement signed in April 2023.
Although some payments were made, Ultimate allegedly defaulted on interest payments, demurrage charges, and later supply obligations.
Petrichor initiated arbitration proceedings in November 2023 at the Dubai International Arbitration Centre before the dispute escalated into further breaches, prompting a payment restructuring agreement in January 2024.
Under that arrangement, Bashar issued nine undated cheques and provided a personal guarantee to secure Ultimate’s obligations.
Despite further supply arrangements and revised payment schedules, Ultimate again defaulted, leading Petrichor to declare breaches in March 2024.
Cheques later presented for payment were returned unpaid due to “irregular” signatures, prompting legal escalation, including a criminal complaint over dishonoured cheques.
The court noted that even after additional restructuring in April 2025, the defendants continued to default on installment payments, despite partial compliance and extensions.
In its ruling, the court said Bashar owed AED 120,089,582.69 and £94,025.56 (about $32.7 million), while Ultimate owed AED 27,491,540.66 and £63,859.28 (about $7.5 million), both under earlier judgments.
The judge held that there was a “good arguable case” that assets could be dissipated, citing evidence including an alleged March 15, 2026, conversation in which Bashar threatened to dispose of assets if payment terms were not accepted.
The court also referenced earlier findings of non-compliance and alleged asset sales in the UAE and the United Kingdom valued at several million dollars.
Concluding that there was a real risk of asset dissipation, the judge granted a worldwide freezing order, describing it as appropriate in light of the post-judgment circumstances.
