Polish Refinery Orlen Says May Claim Compensation From Russia Over Bad Oil

Polish oil refinery PKN Orlen may seek compensation from Russia if it finds that it is receiving poor-quality Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, PKN Orlen's Management Board member in charge of development, Zbigniew Leszczynski, said on Thursday

WARSAW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 25th April, 2019) Polish oil refinery PKN Orlen may seek compensation from Russia if it finds that it is receiving poor-quality Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline, PKN Orlen's Management board member in charge of development, Zbigniew Leszczynski, said on Thursday.

The quality of Russian oil being transported via Druzhba came into question last week when Belarus, a transit country, raised concerns on the matter. Russian state-owned transport monopoly Transneft said that it had found high contents of chlorides in the oil and that it was taking measures to solve the problem as soon as possible. Poland suspended transit through the Druzhba pipeline late on Wednesday.

"We currently have high-quality oil at our oil refinery in Plock. We are carrying out investigations. If it is confirmed that bad oil has entered our system, we will discuss with our partners potential compensation for the poor quality of oil," Leszczynski said at a press conference.

Media reports emerged earlier on Thursday that suspension of Russian oil transit through Poland's section of the Druzbha pipeline would last from one to two weeks.

Orlen has reportedly taken steps to reduce the potential damage that poor-quality oil could do to its Plock refinery. One such measure is purifying Russian oil with ammonia water and diluting it with other grades of oil.