Baltic States – CIS, Energy, Lithuania, Oil, Port, Russia, Transport

Orlen Lietuva says the tainted oil was not unloaded from the tankers at its Butinge terminal and did not reach the Mazeikiai crude refinery in northwestern Lithuania. 

The company says it replaced the contaminated crude, thus avoiding losses and disruptions to its operations.  

"There were problems, but we did not experience a direct impact," Orlen Lietuva CEO Michal Rudnick told the paper. 

"Our customers can be sure that products produced by Orlen Lietuva in Mazeikiai are clean and of high quality and meet all the requirements," he added.  

According to Orlen Lietuva, a tanker delivered a shipment of contaminated Urals crude from Ust-Luga to Butinge in early May, but the terminal refused to unload the oil after it was found to contain excess levels of chlorine compounds. The second shipment was cancelled and was not delivered to the crude terminal.