Formosa Petrochemical Corp. confirms arrival of Russian oil products

Taipei, June 2 (CNA) A tanker recently seen at a refinery plant in Mailiao harbor, Yunlin County, belonging to Formosa Petrochemical Corp. (FPCC) was delivering oil products bought from Russia, the company confirmed Thursday.

As western countries have stepped up sanctions on Russia over its ongoing invasion of Ukraine, local environmental groups have been calling for FPCC, one of Taiwan's major oil refining companies, to boycott Russian oil products so as not to economically help Moscow.

In a post on social media Wednesday, Air Clean Taiwan, an environmental protection organization, said tanker NS POINT which transported up to 40,000 tons of oil products FPCC bought from Russia arrived in Mailiao harbor that night. It called on the company not to unload the barrels.

FPCC spokesperson Lin Keh-yen (林克彥) said Thursday that the tanker was transporting oil products it bought from Russia and that the company had to proceed with the purchase or risk breaching the contract it signed with a Singaporean company.

Since the transaction was made under a commercial contract with the Singaporean company, unilaterally breaching the contract would result in heavy losses for FPCC, Lin told CNA.

Given that Taiwan has not banned imports of Russian oil products, the Singaporean company would be entitled to sue for compensation for its losses had the purchase been cancelled for any reason other than force majeure, he added.

Lin did not comment on the volume of barrels on board the tanker which was scheduled to depart Thursday night after the shipment was unloaded.

Lin's remarks are at odds with a statement by company chairman Chen Bao-lang (陳寶郎) who said in February that FPCC had never imported crude oil from Russia, according to local media.

Air Clean Taiwan and other groups have urged people to wear yellow and blue outfits, the colors of the Ukrainian flag, and join a protest outside the company's Mailiao plant on Friday morning.