Vitol Group refutes allegations on inferior diesel fiasco

Monday, 6 August 2012 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The following is a statement issued by Vitol Group regarding allegations on inferior diesel supplies which has caused a crisis among motorists:

The Vitol Group of Companies strongly refutes any allegation that the cargo of Diesel supplied under tender BKl35l2O12 and discharged at Dolphin Pier on 22 July is responsible in any way for the reported incidents of damage to vehicles and machinery.

The cargo in question was tested in accordance with international testing standards by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation’s (CPC) own inspectors before it was discharged. lt was found to be fully in conformity with all the required contractual specifications, as confirmed in the Certificate of Quality issued by CPC to Vitol. The cargo in question was then discharged into a shore tank containing product from one of CPC’s other suppliers (as confirmed by CPC’s discharge reports) and was mixed with that other product before being introduced into the local supply chain. Contamination could have occurred at any of a number of points between the terminal and the end consumers. We assume the investigation taking place will test every possible point of contamination to avoid further problems.

We have seen no evidence to link the cargo supplied by Vitol with the reported incidents. The cargo supplied by Vitol came from a larger parcel of cargo which has been supplied to a number of Vitol’s customers in the region, where it has been consumed without incident and found to be fully on specification.

Vitol takes any allegations that it supplied contaminated product very seriously and rejects them in their entirety. We have sent a respected independent expert to Sri Lanka to assist in the investigation. CPC is a longstanding and greatly valued customer of the Vitol Group.

In the last year we have won 22 tenders for the supply of petroleum products, including 15 cargoes of Diesel. All of those cargoes have been received in accordance with the required specifications and consumed without incident.