MINSK, 17 May (BelTA) – The amount of quality oil trickling down to OAO Naftan via the Surgut-Polotsk oil pipeline does not allow the company to operate at full capacity, BelTA learned from representatives of the Belarusian state petrochemical concern Belneftekhim.
The workload of OAO Naftan is still reduced due to the Surgut-Polotsk oil pipeline lacking the capacity to deliver untainted oil in sufficient amounts. The Unecha-Polotsk pipeline Naftan used in the past to get oil is polluted with organic chlorides and remains idle.
As of 17 May the Belarusian oil pipeline operator Gomeltransneft Druzhba delivers enough quality oil to Mozyr Oil Refinery to keep the company operating at full capacity.
“Mozyr Oil Refinery's workload is nominal. The company mixes in oil with standard quality parameters. Meanwhile, the company is busy repairing the equipment damaged by polluted oil,” Belneftekhim pointed out.
According to the source, transit oil pumping towards Ukraine is unstable due to the lack of spare reservoirs in the Ukrainian territory to drain impure oil from the transit pipeline. According to the new pumping schedule, oil pumping is supposed to resume in the night of 19-20 May.
No oil is being pumped in transit towards Poland.
BelTA reported earlier that on 19 April Belneftekhim registered a massive decrease in the quality of the Russian oil mixture Urals flowing in transit into the main oil pipeline section operated by OAO Polotsktransneft Druzhba. The concentration of chlororganic compounds in oil exceeded standard thresholds dozens of times over. The oil pipeline system Druzhba is designed to deliver oil to Belarusian oil refineries and transport oil to Europe in transit via Belarus in two directions – via Poland and via Ukraine.
