OREANDA-NEWS. Next week Transneft plans to start mixing oil with a high chloroorganic content into clean streams in order to gradually clean the oil pipeline system, writes the American media referring to sources in the industry.

According to four agency sources, the oil company and Transneft couldn't find a compromise on the options for cleaning the pipeline system from contaminated raw materials at a meeting in the Russian Ministry of Energy. Transneft has proposed a scheme for gradually mixing off-grade oil into the net stream. This will lead to an increase in the chloroorganic content to 5 ppm with approximately 1 ppm in Primorsk and Novorossiysk and 3.5 ppm in Ust-Luga. According to the technical regulations adopted by the EAEU countries, from July 1 the content of chloro-organic in oil shouldn't exceed 6 ppm, the agency notes.

According to sources, the mixing of dirty raw materials will lead to changes in the quality of Urals oil c shipped from Novorossiysk, Ust-Luga and Primorsk, as well as in raw materials shipped to refineries in central Russia. The interlocutors of the agency indicated that the high content of chloroorganic will continue until mid-2020, and possibly until 2021.

Oil companies didn't agree with this scheme, because they believe that the increase in the content of organic chlorides in oil will negatively affect its cost. One of the sources indicated that they are considering alternative solutions to the problem, which will be offered by the Russian Ministry of Energy.

In April, Belarus announced that it had polluted Russian oil flowing through the Druzhba pipeline with chloro-organic matter. After that, pumping of raw materials to Belarus, Ukraine and a number of European countries was suspended. The Investigative Committee of Russia opened a criminal case on oil pollution. At the beginning of May, pure raw materials began to be supplied through the Druzhba pipeline.