BP is ongoing with the quality assessment of BTC oil as loadings proceed.

BP, the operator of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, announced on Wednesday that it is conducting a thorough quality assessment of Azeri BTC oil by taking samples before each loading at the terminal. Last week, organic chloride contamination was found in Azeri BTC crude cargoes, leading to a drop in price differentials to a four-year low and causing delays in loadings from Turkey's BTC Ceyhan terminal. Sources informed Reuters that these delays are partly due to additional testing.

Once enough oil for a cargo is received at the BTC Ceyhan terminal, it undergoes testing, and the results are presented to the vessel charterers waiting at the port for their approval or rejection, as explained by a port agent on Wednesday. It is still uncertain how many Azeri crude cargoes have been impacted by the organic chloride contamination.

So far, Austria's OMV and Italy's Eni have confirmed that their purchased cargoes were contaminated. BP also stated that it is collaborating closely with Azerbaijan's Socar to manage the off-spec crude in storage at the terminal while export operations continue. According to data from analytics firm Kpler, six Azeri crude cargoes have been loaded since the organic chloride contamination was first reported on July 22.