Poland confirms resumption of clean oil supply from Russia
The Polish oil logistics company PERN has confirmed that the supply of clean oil from Russia has resumed, Polish Radio reports.
“On the morning of 9 June, Russia resumed the supply of clean oil through Belarus to the Polish transmission system,” the report states.
According to PERN spokesperson Katarzyna Krasinska, the company has implemented a mechanism to constantly monitor the quality of the oil arriving from the east.
“This morning the supply of oil not contaminated with organochlorides was resumed to the PERN transmission system. Our company has implemented a quality monitoring mechanism so that we can monitor the commodity coming from Belarus,” the spokesperson noted.
On 19 April, the Belarusian company Belneftekhim reported that the oil arriving through the Druzhba pipeline was exceeding the acceptable concentration of organochlorides by a factor of between 10 and 25. The Russian transit company Transneft acknowledged the discrepancy in quality, and the Russian Energy Ministry described the problem as “technical in nature”. On 22 April, the substandard oil reached European and Ukrainian refineries. According to PERN, the concentration of contaminants in the oil could be harmful to refinery equipment.
On 25 April, the Ukrainian oil transport company UkrTransNafta suspended transit along the Mozyr-Brody stretch of Druzhba. European companies also refused to accept the dirty oil at the receiving stations in Budkovce (Slovakia) and Feneshlitke (Hungary).
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said previously that Russia will have to pay compensation for the costs incurred due to the contaminated oil. Belarus, which has also been affected by the substandard Russian oil, estimates its losses at $100 million.