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Full reactivation of Druzhba pipeline to take several months

The arrival of oil on the Belarusian territory is expected no earlier than on May 2, Belneftekhim company said

© Viktor Drachev/TASS

MOSCOW, April 30. /TASS/. Full restoration of oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline will require several months of hard work, Belneftekhim company announced on Tuesday.

"The measures that have been taken will allow restoring the operation of only one string of the Druzhba pipeline. Full restoration will require several months of hard work," the report says.

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Russian Energy Ministry says technical problems of oil transit will be solved

"Taking into account the speed of oil movement, as well as the distance (106 km from the Unecha line operation dispatcher station to the border), the arrival of oil on the Belarusian territory is expected no earlier than 23:00 on May 2, 2019," according to the report.

An official with Belneftekhim noted that the Mozyr oil refinery will receive Russian oil of good quality no earlier than May 4.

On April 19, Belarusian concern Belneftekhim reported a sharp deterioration of the quality of the Russian oil running through the Druzhba oil pipeline and subsequently informed pipeline operators from other countries about the situation. The content of chlororganic compounds in the oil showed excess of limit value by ten folds, the company said.

On April 23, Belarus suspended exports of light oil products to Ukraine, Poland and Baltic countries due to poor quality oil supplied to its refineries. Poland also refused to accept Russian crude delivered via the Druzhba pipeline.

On April 26, Russia’s Energy Ministry, together with Transneft, Russian Railways and oil companies, agreed on a set of measures to refine the contaminated crude supplied through the Druzhba pipeline.

On April 29, the Russian oil, which complies with the technical regulations, reached the the Unecha line operation dispatcher station of the Druzhba pipeline, near the border with Belarus.

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