Russia’s Plan to Cleanse Tainted Oil Pipe Proves Slow Going
- Nearly 5 million tons of crude may have been contaminated
- Russia expects to return supplies to normal by the end of May
A discharge valve of the Druzhba oil pipeline
Photographer: MAXIM MALINOVSKY/AFPThis article is for subscribers only.
Russia is racing to return oil exports to normal after deliveries to eastern Europe were cut by a contamination crisis that shut down parts of the giant Druzhba pipeline almost a month ago.
Shipments to Belarus via Druzhba have restarted, while oil transport in the direction of Ukraine via the pipe’s southern branch is running at almost half normal levels, according to a representative of state-owned company Belneftekhim. Ukrainian pipeline operator Ukrtransnafta JSC said Saturday it resumed transit of Russian oil to the European Union after Hungary’s Mol Nyrt. confirmed it would take deliveries.