Dirty oil crisis over for Russia, but contagion felt on high seas
Source: Reuters
BUSINESS NEWS JUNE 24, 2019 / 7:07 PM / UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO
Exclusive: Dirty oil crisis over for Russia, but contagion felt on high seas
Olga Yagova, Dmitry Zhdannikov, Florence Tan
6 MIN READ
MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - In the opinion of Russian officials, the oil contamination crisis that disrupted flows from the world’s second-largest exporter of crude this spring is long over.
But a closer look at a dozen tankers containing dirty Russian oil suggests that for the buyers, the debacle has a long way to run and will cost them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Two months since buyers discovered Russia was shipping oil contaminated with organic chloride, which is designed to boost output but can destroy refining equipment, less than half of the tainted crude loaded on tankers has found end-users.
More than 1 million tonnes worth around $500 million remains homeless, zigzagging between Europe and Asia. In China, buyers have refused to take dirty Russian oil, forcing trader Vitol to send a cargo back to Europe.
The Chinese development has not previously been reported.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-oil-contamination-exclusive/exclusive-dirty-oil-crisis-over-for-russia-but-contagion-felt-on-high-seas-idUSKCN1TP2WP