Romanian officials are investigating a suspected sabotage incident involving Azerbaijani crude oil destined for OMV Petrom’s Petrobrazi refinery. The crude, transported via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline through Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Turkey before shipment to Romania, was found to contain dangerously high levels of chlorine.
This contamination posed a significant corrosion risk to refinery equipment and threatened the stability of fuel supplies. On August 4, the Ministry of Energy declared a crisis-level emergency for crude supplies, authorized the release of national emergency reserves, and released tens of thousands of tons of oil and diesel to maintain market supply.
OMV Petrom reported that routine quality control detected the issue, and the BTC pipeline operator confirmed that several terminal tanks were contaminated by a corrosive agent. Scheduled deliveries to the Port of Constanta were canceled, causing a temporary shortfall at the Petrobrazi refinery.
Sources suggest chlorine may have been deliberately injected into the pipeline, a method feasible with limited tanker volumes and resembling hybrid warfare tactics attributed to Russia. Contaminated crude barrels from the same batch also reached other European refineries: ENI confirmed receipt of compromised crude, and Czech operator Orlen Unipetrol temporarily halted processing as a precaution. However, authorities have not publicly identified the perpetrators. Security sources quoted in local media characterize the incident as consistent with previous hostile actions targeting energy infrastructure.
