Total Declares Force Majeure on German Refinery

France’s Total has halted some of the units at its 230,000-barrel-per-day Leuna refinery in Germany to conduct technical checks after contaminated Russian crude oil was found to have flown via an oil pipeline from Russia to European customers. 
The Leuna refinery, which typically receives Russian Urals crude via the Druzhba oil pipeline, is expected to resume operations as early as on Saturday and will use alternative supply via Gdansk in Poland, Reuters quoted the French oil and gas major as saying in a statement, Oil Price reported Sunday.
“With the continuing problems in connection with the Druzhba pipeline, the capacity of the refinery will remain limited,” Total said.
Last month, Russia halted supplies via the Druzhba oil pipeline to several European countries, including Germany, due to a contamination issue, which the Russians say was deliberate.  
The oil was contaminated with organic chlorine, a substance used in oil production to boost output but dangerous in high amounts for refining equipment. The amounts of the chemical were found to be at levels much higher than the maximum allowable amount.
According to Russia’s Energy Ministry, normal deliveries via the pipeline are expected to resume in the second half of May.