Austria's OMV finds chloride contamination in Azeri crude 

By Robert Harvey

LONDON -Austrian energy group OMV has found organic chloride contamination in Azeri crude cargoes planned for delivery to its oil refineries, it said, adding it had prevented it from causing any disruption. 

Organic chloride contamination in Azeri BTC crude cargoes was discovered last week, sending price differentials to a four-year low and causing several days' delays to loadings from Turkey's BTC Ceyhan terminal.  

In its statement on Friday, OMV said the contaminated crude had been discovered through its quality control procedures. It said it had not reached its refineries, and there had been no disruption of its refining operations or of its supply of fuel to the market.

OMV said it had worked to secure alternative crude from other sources to "ensure continuity and security of fuels supply," but it did not clarify what it planned to do with the contaminated Azeri crude.  

Organic chlorides are used in the industry to boost extraction from oilfields by cleaning oil wells and to accelerate the flow of crude, but the compounds must be removed before oil enters pipelines.

In large concentrations, they can pose risks to refinery equipment, OMV said. 

Italy's Eni told Reuters last week that it had detected organic chloride contamination in oil already in its systems. 

(Reporting by Robert Harvey in London; editing by Barbara Lewis)