Russian oil pipeline operator and owner, Transneft, which supplies Urals crude to European customers via the Druzhba pipeline, faces compensation claims of up to US$1 billion for the contaminated oil it sent to Europe last year, sources from oil firms, traders, and the industry told Reuters on Thursday. At the end of April 2019, Russia halted supplies via the Druzhba oil pipeline to several European countries—including Germany, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic—due to a contamination issue, which the Russians said was deliberate . Russia said at the time that the oil was contaminated with organic chlorine, a substance used in oil production to boost output but dangerous in high amounts for refining equipment. The amounts of the chemical were found to be at levels much higher than the maximum allowable amount. A month after the crisis started, supplies were not restored and analysts and traders were saying […]