Oil quality from Azerbaijan returns to normal after chloride contamination – Reuters
Oil platform of the Azerbaijani state company SOCAR in the Caspian Sea (photo - EPA)

Azerbaijani oil supplied by pipeline Baku – Tbilisi – Ceyhan (BTC), has returned to standard indicators. This was reported by British Petroleum (BP) with reference to reported reuters.

Last week, crude oil that arrived from Azerbaijan at the terminal in Ceyhan, Turkey, was found to be in the wrong place, organic chloride was found. This led to a four-year low in prices and delays in shipments.

According to Reuters, oil shipments resumed after a pause from July 20 to 24. Now, shipments are made from cleaned tanks and are subject to the charterer's inspection and approval.

According to the analytical company Kpler, the volume of Azerbaijani oil shipped from the Ceyhan terminal in July amounted to 423,000 barrels per day, which is less than the planned volume of 561,000 barrels per day.

The extent of the contamination and its impact on customers remain unclear. Austrian OMV and Italy's Eni have confirmed receiving oil with chlorides.

BP said it was working with Azerbaijan's SOCAR to fix the problem with the substandard oil still in the tanks. The company did not provide additional details.

  • Organic chlorides are used in the oil industry to enhance oil recovery in fields. They must be removed before the oil enters pipelines, as they can damage refinery equipment.
  • In 2019, at least 5 million tons of Russian crude oil was contaminated during transportation to Europe via the Druzhba pipeline, as well as during exports by sea from Ust-Luga. Then russian oil has been temporarily abandoned a number of European companies, including Eni, Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell.
  • Russian pipeline operator Transneft has paid about 13.8 billion rubles ($171.92 million) in compensation for oil pollution.