Romania Declares Crisis as Contaminated Azerbaijani Oil Disrupts Supply

The Romanian Ministry of Energy has declared a "crisis-level" state of emergency after a shipment of crude oil from Azerbaijan was found to be severely contaminated. The incident, announced on August 4, has led to a temporary shortage of crude oil and a major disruption to a key refinery.

The situation came to light when the energy company OMV Petrom received a 92,000-ton batch of crude oil, which was loaded from Turkey's Ceyhan port between July 16 and 18. Inspections during the unloading process at the port of Constanța revealed the crude was contaminated with organic chlorides—a substance that can cause significant damage to refinery equipment in high concentrations.

As a result, OMV Petrom was forced to reject the contaminated shipment, as well as a second 92,000-ton batch. This rejection removed a total of 184,000 tons of crude oil from the supply chain for the country's Petrobrazi refinery, creating an immediate and serious supply gap.

To prevent major disruptions in the national fuel market, the Ministry of Energy approved OMV Petrom’s request to release 80,000 tons of crude oil and 30,000 tons of diesel from the country’s emergency reserves. The ministry has also informed the European Commission about the situation.

This incident in Romania appears to be part of a broader, emerging issue. At the end of July, British Petroleum (BP) had already reported receiving information about potential contamination in some Azerbaijani oil shipments being transported to European countries. Similarly, the Austrian energy group OMV later confirmed it had also detected contamination from organic chlorides in Azerbaijani oil destined for its refineries.

In response to the growing concerns, BTC Co., the company that operates the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, has announced that it is evaluating the quality of crude oil at all facilities along the pipeline. While Romania's emergency reserves provide a temporary solution, the incident highlights a significant challenge for the regional energy supply chain and underscores the need for a thorough investigation into the source of the contamination.