New Delhi: The three oil marketing companies (OMCs) — Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL) and Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) — said additional nationwide testing across the E20 petrol supply chain had found chloride levels within prescribed limits, rejecting recent media reports of moisture and chloride contamination in the ethanol-blended fuel.
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"Contrary to certain assertions being made, there is no evidence of any alarm on account of fuel contamination validated by extensive and scientifically designed tests," the OMCs said in a joint statement.
The statement was issued amid reports alleging chloride levels of 500 ppm and the presence of moisture in E20 petrol, which the companies said had not been validated.
The OMCs said the government had prescribed a chloride specification for ethanol used in petrol blending and instituted a high-frequency monitoring mechanism, with checks conducted at refineries, distilleries, depots and terminals, and retail outlets nationwide. The companies said they had further stepped up surveillance by carrying out water-ingress and density tests 8-12 times daily at every retail outlet, deploying mobile testing laboratories and independently validating results through fuel laboratories.
According to the test data released with the statement, ethanol samples drawn from 80 distilleries over the preceding 10 days returned chloride content below 3 mg/kg — equivalent to parts per million — ranging from 0.02 to 2.95 mg/kg. Across 80 samples from OMC depots and terminals, readings did not exceed 3 mg/kg, the data showed.
The companies said samples analysed at retail outlets returned chloride levels within limits, "contrary to the claims of several hundred ppm." The data recorded most retail readings at or below 3 mg/kg, with two isolated instances of elevated chloride, at 4.8 and 4.1 mg/kg. The OMCs said those outlets were suspended immediately, followed by root-cause analysis and corrective measures before supplies were restored.
The OMCs said about 90,000 retail outlets had begun mandatory inspection and monitoring of underground storage tanks, which were being checked 8-12 times daily and had shown no water ingress so far. A tabulated summary of the results is available on the CHT website, the companies said.
"OMCs would like to reassure all our esteemed customers that we treat fuel quality as a matter of highest priority and any issue that could potentially affect the vehicle performance or consumer confidence is addressed promptly through scientific investigation and corrective action," the statement said.
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The companies said consumers should continue to use E20 petrol with confidence, as fuel supplied through the OMC network conformed to prescribed quality specifications.