BAKU, Azerbaijan, July 30. BTC Co. continues to take necessary actions to fully resolve the issue, related to presence of organic chlorides in some of the tanks at Ceyhan terminal, bp Azerbaijan told Trend.
“BTC export operations and loadings at the Ceyhan terminal are continuing. BTC Co. is also closely working with SOCAR to manage the crude stored in the tanks that have been assessed to be off specification,” said the company.
bp Azerbaijan said that BTC Co. also continues its extensive assessment programme and, as part of it, samples are taken prior to each loading at the Ceyhan terminal.
Earlier, some media outlets reported that oil supplied through the Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline was contaminated with fuel containing organic chlorides, which are used to enhance crude production. According to reports, BP Plc and the Italian company Eni raised these concerns.
In response to Trend’s inquiry, bp Azerbaijan said that the results of assessment of the quality of the crude oil across all the facilities along the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline have confirmed that the crude oil is on specification at all the facilities along the pipeline up to the Ceyhan terminal.
“BTC Co was made aware of a potential quality issue related to organic chlorides in some BTC blend loadings. Following this, BTC Co undertook an extensive assessment of the quality of the crude oil across all the facilities along the pipeline. BTC Co. has completed the assessment of the quality of the crude oil across all the facilities along the pipeline. The results have confirmed that the crude oil is on specification at all the facilities along the pipeline up to the Ceyhan terminal,” said the company.
Reportedly, at the Ceyhan terminal, the assessment of the tanks has also been completed.
“The results have identified the presence of organic chlorides in some of the tanks. Respective actions have been taken to contain those tanks with plans being put in place to fully resolve the issue and investigate the situation. Currently, loadings at the Ceyhan terminal continue from the tanks that have been assessed to be within normal specifications. Export activities via the BTC pipeline also continue.”
