SOMO says it will sue carriers of contaminated oil batch 

Shafaq News/ Iraq's state-owned oil marketer, SOMO, on Thursday said it has already taken measures against the carriers of a contaminated oil batch.

SOMO said that the product was contaminated during the transportation, and it will take legal proceedings against them for violating the terms of the contract they inked with the company. 

The company said the deals it made with its clients were not affected by the situation, stressing that it enjoys their trust. 

Reuters reported on Monday that SOMO recently sold a batch of fuel oil that was contaminated by a chemical cleaning agent.

About 600,000 to 700,000 tonnes of high-sulfur straight-run fuel oil (HSSR) supplied to SOMO’s term customers were affected, Reuters quoted sources.

The fuel oil contained chlorinated organic compounds (COC) ranging between 90 and 130 parts per million (ppm), it added.

The maximum COC content for fuel oil feedstock at refineries is at five ppm, and higher levels can cause damage to processing units.