E20 is safe: Oil firms reject contamination claims after nationwide testing (Img: Pinterest)
New Delhi: State-controlled oil marketing companies have put to rest worries about the quality of E20 petrol by claiming that tests conducted throughout India have not indicated any problem of contamination of ethanol-blended petrol.
Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) have claimed that random samples collected from refineries, ethanol blending units, storage tanks and petrol pumps have established that E20 petrol is still within the prescribed quality parameters of the government.
There has been “no cause for alarm” about the quality of petrol following a report about high chloride levels and moisture contamination in ethanol-blended petrol.
Oil companies confirmed that a stringent testing of quality was carried out throughout the E20 fuel distribution chain.
Petrol samples from over 100 refineries were found to have a chloride level of 1 ppm each.
According to the oil companies, samples of ethanol from 80 distilleries tested were found to contain chloride levels below the specified limit.
Monitoring has been strengthened in petrol pumps all over the country, according to IOC, BPCL, and HPCL.
More than 1,000 samples have been collected from retail stations, with the analysis report of 160 samples revealing that chloride is below 0-3 ppm which is considered acceptable.
According to the firms, only four individual cases where chloride concentration was higher have been found in the process of inspection. Supply has been immediately suspended from such places.
Responding to fears about moisture contamination, oil companies announced that underground storage tanks at 90,000 retail establishments are being checked on a regular basis.
Regular checks are being performed more than once a day to identify the presence of water in storage tanks. Oil companies claim that these checks have not identified any water contamination to date.
The companies said additional safety measures include mobile fuel testing laboratories, independent verification through accredited laboratories and frequent monitoring across refineries, depots and petrol pumps.
Officials said the enhanced surveillance system has been introduced to maintain fuel quality standards as India expands the use of ethanol-blended petrol under its energy transition programme.
