Belarus Seizes a Chance to Hit Russia Where It Hurts

The Russian energy ministry says clean oil is flowing in the Druzhba pipeline, which was shut down last week because it was conveying contaminated crude to European clients. But neighboring Belarus insists it will take “months of hard work” to restore the flow. That reveals a political aspect to the contamination, which last week helped drive Brent crude prices above $75 a barrel.

Belarus made public the problem with Russian oil in the Druzhba (“Friendship” in Russian) on April 19, saying there was an abnormally high concentration of organic chlorides in the crude. The chemicals are used to increase the yield of old, nearly exhausted oil wells; Russia lifted a ban on their use in 2012. During refining, the chemicals tend to convert into hydrogen chloride and then, on contact with water, into a hydrochloric acid solution, which corrodes the refining equipment. Contamination happens sporadically, and it’s possible that the Russian oil flowing through the Druzhba — a pipeline built in Soviet times to supply the Communist empire’s European satellites — has contained more organic chlorides than normal for quite some time. Russian oil producers or the pipeline monopoly, Transneft, haven’t been testing for them systematically enough.