Austrian OMV discovered chloride-contaminated oil from Azerbaijan even before it reached the refineries of the largest energy company in Central Europe. Earlier, the Italian Eni reported on the ingress of substandard raw materials to the refinery.
Austrian energy group OMV has detected contamination with organic chlorides in batches of Azerbaijani crude oil intended for delivery to its refineries. It is reported by Reuters with reference to the company.
They said that OMV managed to prevent malfunctions at the refinery.
"Contaminated oil was detected during quality control procedures. The company stated that it had not reached its refineries, and there were no interruptions in its refining or fuel supplies to the market," the agency writes.
OMV reported that they are looking for an alternative source of oil to "ensure the continuity and security of fuel supplies."
Organic chlorides are used to increase production, but must be removed from the oil before it enters the pipeline.
As EADaily reported, Caspian oil with organic chlorides, which can damage the refinery equipment, got into the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. Some parties have reached Europe.
"The Italian Eni said it had acquired some of the contaminated oil, and some of it ended up in its refineries," Bloomberg reported.
When the contamination was discovered, the shipment of raw materials to tankers in Turkish Ceyhan was stopped for several days. There were no shipments from July 19 to July 23. BP, which is the largest oil producer and operator of projects in Azerbaijan, reported that measures to assess the level of pollution have not yet been completed.