Pure Russian oil arrives in Belarus via Druzhba pipeline

MINSK, Good quality Russian oil reached the Belarusian border on May 2 via the Druzhba pipeline and is being supplied to the Mozyrsky oil refinery, Belarusian petrochemical company Belneftekhim said on Thursday.According to the Belarusian pipeline operator Gomeltransneft Druzhba, the crude, which meets the standards, arrived at the Belarusian border at 12:40 on May 2. “The displacement of oil polluted with organic chlorides from the Russian section of the Druzhba oil pipeline to the reservoirs of the Unecha line operation dispatcher station has been carried out,” the company said.

Standard technological operations and the selection of oil samples were carried out in the presence of representatives of Russian oil company Transneft and Gomeltransneft Druzhba. At 14:28 p.m. oil started being supplied to the Mozyrsky oil refinery. “The sides have agreed on all the steps, which are carried out as scheduled,” the company said.

On April 19, the Belarusian petrochemical company Belneftekhim reported a sharp deterioration in the quality of the Russian oil running through the pipeline. Both Belarusian refineries – the Mozyr refinery (Gomel region) and Naftan (Vitebsk region) – reported the risk of equipment facing damage and almost halved the refining volumes. On April 23, Belarus was forced to halt exports of light oil products to Ukraine, Poland and Baltic countries due to deliveries of poor quality oil.

Poland, Germany, Ukraine and Slovakia suspended crude oil supplies from Russia through the Druzhba oil pipeline. The pollutant was revealed at the Samara-Unecha section. Russia’s Energy Ministry referred to technical issues as the reason for the contamination of the oil, saying that the problem would be ironed out quickly.

On April 29, Russian oil meeting the technical regulations reached the Unecha delivery station of the Druzhba pipeline near the Belarusian border.