Russian ultra low sulfur diesel exports may struggle to find a home in the UK in the winter after the country's oil importers agreed earlier this month to enact a new test to assess the fuel's filter-blocking tendency, traders said Friday. The new testing requirement could disqualify a large share of Russian diesel production, even if the full extent of the problem is not understood, they said.
There have been numerous instances of diesel car engine breakdowns in the UK over the last two winters as additives present in imported fuel from Russia reacted with biofuels to create a gel-like substance. UKPIA, which represents the UK's main refiners, said Friday its members had agreed on a voluntary basis earlier this month to enact a new test on filter-blocking tendency for all diesel fuel imported into the UK. The agreement runs until April 15 and applies to UKPIA's members, a spokeswoman for the lobby group said. She said the agreement could be renewed next winter, but that further consultation would take place.
BP, Essar, ExxonMobil, Murco, PetroIneos, Phillips 66, Shell, Total and Valero are all members of UKPIA. Greenergy, which is not a member of UKPIA but is widely considered the UK's largest fuel importer, said it was also testing for filter-blocking tendency to avoid any problems for consumers. Sources said the UK government was aware of the issue and was studying whether to incorporate the test in the official UK specification for diesel. The UK's Department for Transport was not immediately available for comment.
RAC Limited, which provides roadside assistance and general insurance to drivers, said it attended many engine breakdowns in November when the weather turned cold across much of the UK and Europe. "The problem affects diesel cars but is not specific to any particular vehicle age or make. Data suggests the issue is more prevalent in eastern parts of England and Scotland, with the greatest concentration of breakdowns occurring in the northeast, and can arise from diesel purchased from any type of fuel retailer," RAC Limited said in December. "The issue affected only a small minority of motorists throughout last winter with the largest number in March 2013, but the problem disappeared over the summer. However, in November 2013 the RAC attended almost 600 such incidents," it added.
A spokesman for RAC Limited said Thursday the number of incidents had fallen since November as the weather has remained mild, but that the issue could resurface. Sources said that while some the engine failures reported in the UK last year were still under investigation, a likely cause was the interaction between biofuels and certain additives in diesel produced abroad. They said Russian diesel, one of the largest sources for UK imports, was often to blame.
"If you've blended diesel and biodiesel, the bio can react with additives in the diesel, it makes the monoglycerol molecules in the bio form waxy blobs, which block fuel filters," one trader active in the UK said. "The Automobile Association and RAC had a massive rise in breakdowns with diesel cars with blocked fuel filters, it was such a spike they organized a conference ... they tracked the problem down to fuel quality," he said.
"The issue stems from a dodgy cold-flow improver that was blended with Russian diesel and affected cars in the north of the UK," a second trading source said. "It is redundant though because for the next six months because we are moving to summer grade and people can have a cool, measured thought on it."
Traders said the test for filter-blocking tendency is was not part of the standard testing procedures for diesel produced around the world. "If someone is buying for the UK and insist you pass the filter-blocking test, then the seller has very limited supply options. If you have a contract with the Russian refiners they won't guarantee it," the first trader said.
"It's always been tested by importers, but it's obviously not a contractual spec," a source at a company importing diesel into the UK said. "We request it as standard on all purchases, but a) it takes a long time and b) some load ports do not have the ability to test it."
The UK imported 10.7 million mt of ultra low sulfur diesel and gasoil last year, up from 9.4 million mt two years ago, before the Coryton refinery stopped production and its owner Petroplus went bankrupt. Traders said Russia made up a large share of those imports, even if exact statistics were not available at the time of writing. Refiners typically blend additives into their diesel production in the winter to make it more resistant to cold.