Oil with a high content of organochlorine will be partially processed at Russian refineries, said Anton Rubtsov, director of the oil and gas processing department at the Ministry of Energy, quoted by Interfax.
“According to the roadmap, we have taken away the“ dirty ”oil and continue to look at the options, how it can be processed or mixed, with what proportion. Partially, this will be processing at our plants, ”Rubtsov explained. When asked whether the fluctuations of organic chlorides in the port of Ust-Luga are due to the fact that the polluted oil is being mixed in, Rubtsov said: “Of course, I am mixing a little. You see our messages, we give the market an understanding of the prospect that it is 3-4 ppm, up to 4 ppm (parts per million, relatively low concentrations of organic chlorides). That is, the content that all plants can take. It was previously up to 2 ppm, now with the proposed content of problems [the refinery] does not. We carry out the analysis, it is important how it affects pricing. Nobody refuses such oil, the only question is cost. There is a market, ”the department director described the situation.
In April, Transneft President Nikolai Tokarev, at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin, warned that the company would mix the contaminated oil with normal oil in Novorossiysk and continue to sell it.
Russian oil Urals with a high content of organochlorine got into the Druzhba pipeline and through it to the Belarusian refinery in Mozyr on April 19. Part of it went further and reached European consumers - they immediately stopped pumping. Pollution was caused by oil supply fraud, Transneft noted.
After the contaminated oil was returned to Russia, on July 1, Transneft resumed oil pumping via the Druzhba pipeline.
On July 9, Rosneft reported that it was forced to reduce the production of Yuganskneftegaz: Transnenft reduced the intake of raw materials, as oil with high content of organochlorine remains in the pipelines. Yuganskneftegaz is not currently experiencing any restrictions on the delivery of oil to the Transneft system, Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on July 18.