MOL: Hungary to restart receiving good-quality Russian oil next week

Hungarian oil and gas company MOL said on Friday that it would restart receiving good-quality Russian crude oil next week.

At present, however, there is no need for it because the Százhalombatta refinery is supplied with crude oil without disruption, as planned, it said.

As reported earlier, the quality of oil from the Druzhba pipeline is once again satisfactory, the company added.

Ukraine suspended the transit of Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline on April 25 after a number of refineries in Europe suspended oil imports when it was found to contain high levels of organic chloride. The material is used to boost oil output and it must be separated before shipment, as it can severely damage refining equipment.

MOL said on April 26 that it had suspended oil imports in order to prevent contaminated crude oil from reaching Hungarian refineries.

The ministry of innovation and technology said on April 30 that it had decided to partially release safety reserves and made 400,000 tonnes of crude oil accessible to MOL. This amount accounted for more than 60 percent of Hungary’s safety reserves but less than 30 percent of the overall crude oil and crude oil product safety reserve.

The ministry also said that thanks to alternative acquisition opportunities and Hungary’s safety reserve system, domestic fuel supplies were uninterrupted.

Source: MTI