OMCs refute chloride contamination, excess moisture in E20 fuel

State-owned oil marketing companies (OMCs) on Friday rejected allegations of chloride contamination in E20 fuel, stating that additional intensive testing conducted at retail outlets, refineries, and at the point of ethanol procurement confirmed that chloride levels remained within the prescribed limits.

In a joint statement, the OMCs — IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and Hindustan Petroleum — also refuted allegations regarding excess moisture in the blended-petrol fuel validated from water-ingress testing.

“Contrary to certain assertions being made, based on extensive random testing through scientifically designed tests, the evidence shows that there is no cause for any alarm on fuel contamination,” the statement said.

The assurance from the OMCs comes days after automakers’ industry body, the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), in a communication to the oil ministry, flagged concerns about vehicular parts experiencing wear due to excess chloride presence since the introduction of the one-fifth ethanol (E20) blended petrol.

SIAM had later withdrawn the letter assuring that E20 was safe, emphasising the data they cited required further authentication.

Checks at multiple points

The three OMCs put forth that chloride monitoring conducted by them at multiple points — at refineries, distilleries, depots and retail outlets across the country — confirmed that “quality is being consistently maintained throughout the supply chain”.

They stated 100 random petrol samples taken from varied refineries tested for “consistently low” chloride content, that is, at or below 1 parts per million (ppm). Further, they reported that chloride content was found to be below 3 ppm from the 80 ethanol and E20 samples tested at OMCs’ terminals across the country.

Finally, the principal blending component, which is ethanol supplied by distilleries were also inspected that reported “chloride levels significantly below the prescribed specification”.

“A dedicated task force, having members of OMCs & Centre for High Technology (CHT), has checked ethanol samples from 80 distilleries across the country in last 10 days and all samples had Chloride content less than 3 ppm,” it stated.

Mandatory inspection of storage tanks

The OMCs also informed that about 90,000 retail outlets have commenced mandatory inspection and monitoring of underground storage tanks.

“The underground tanks at retail outlets are being inspected 8–12 times every day and have not revealed any water ingress so far,” the OMCs said.