VIENNA, April 25. /TASS/. Quality of crude oil flowing over the Druzhba oil pipeline in the southern direction for Slovakia and Hungary meets operating standards and all the pipeline segments are monitored on a going basis, Hungary’s MOL oil and gas company told TASS on Thursday.
"We are aware that there are concerns regarding the quality of the Russian crude oil on the Northern part of the Druzhba pipeline. On the Southern part - in Slovakia and in Hungary - MOL and Slovnaft [Slovak subsidiary of MOL - TASS] continuously monitor and measure the quality of crude oil at every section of the pipeline and at the country entry points. So far we have experienced that the quality of the crude oil coming through the pipeline meets our operational standards," MOL said.
"We keep monitoring the situation and at the same time MOL and Slovnaft are in contact with all relevant companies and authorities who have responsibility and authority over oil transportation and logistics in the region," the company added.
On April 19, the Belarusian side reported a sharp deterioration of the quality of the Russian oil running through the Gomeltransneft Druzhba main oil pipeline. According to Belarus’ Belneftekhim, the content of organochloride compounds in oil was dozens of times above the limit value. The contaminant source had been revealed at the Samara-Unecha section of the Druzhba pipeline.
On April 23, Belarus suspended exports of light oil products to Ukraine, Poland and Baltic countries because of poor quality oil supplied to its refineries. Poland also refused to accept Russian crude at its refineries.