Clean oil supplies resume via Belarus to EU
BELTA
450 000 tons of 'contaminated' oil were returned from Belarus to Russia. The Belarusian petrochemical monopoly Belneftekhim says as of 9 June the crude in the two Druzhba pipelines from Mozyr to the border with Poland was replaced with the oil that meets standards. It means that the supplies of crude oil from Russia via Belarus to the European Union have been resumed.
The quality of the crude was checked at the Adamowo pumping station in Poland and found to be meeting all the requirements. From Adamowo, clean crude began to flow to Poland and Germany on 9 June. Transit supplies to Ukraine continue as scheduled.
Oil in the third pipeline from Adamowo to Mozyr is yet to be replaced with clean crude. The works will be finished in early July. Then, the next pipeline from Mozyr to the Russian point of Unecha will be cleaned. The plan is to finish works by mid-August.
The transit of Russian crude oil to the European Union was suspended in April when the oil in the Druzhba pipeline was contaminated with chlorides. According to Belneftekhim, nearly 5 million tons of contaminated oil entered the pipeline. Up to six months is needed to restore the work of the Druzhba pipeline on the territory of Belarus fully.
