Dutch to Enforce Oil Ban With ‘Fingerprinting’ Test

Dutch customs officials have enlisted a chemical “fingerprinting” method to spot any Iraqi or Kuwaiti oil smuggled into Rotterdam, Europe’s largest oil port, in violation of sanctions.

The method relies on a process known as gas chromatography and is already used by oil companies and a government agency trying to identify sources of North Sea oil pollution, customs service spokesman Cornelis Verlaan said Thursday.

Verlaan said the customs laboratory in Amsterdam now plans to use the technique to check samples of crude oil shipments arriving in Rotterdam.

In line with the Aug. 6 U.N. embargo, the Netherlands has banned all Iraqi and Kuwaiti oil imports and transshipments through Rotterdam, Europe’s largest refining center and site of a huge oil spot market. The U.N. action was to punish Iraqi for its military takeover of Kuwait on Aug. 2.

Verlaan said it takes five to six weeks for an oil tanker to reach Rotterdam, so “no oil loaded after Aug. 7 has arrived here yet.”

The identification process is based on differences in texture and chemical composition found in every oil field’s deposits.

Verlaan said samples taken in Rotterdam will be compared to a file of about 40 crude samples, including those from Iraq and Kuwait.

“You kind of take a fingerprint,” said Verlaan. “If we’re in a real hurry, we can conduct an analysis in 24 hours.”

He said the procedure is now about 80% accurate, adding, “We’re refining the technique all the time.”