Contaminated fuel traced to Thames Estuary terminal

London: The silicon contamination of petrol which thousands of British motorists say damaged their vehicles has been traced to storage tanks at a Thames Estuary terminal, fuel supplier Harvest Energy said yesterday.

Motorists across the country have said their vehicles broke down or suffered serious problems after leaving filling station forecourts.

"Testing has identified unusually high levels of silicon in four petrol storage tanks," said Harvest Energy after conducting tests at an oil terminal owned by Vopak at West Thurrock, Essex, which it shares with another supplier, Greenergy.

Harvest Energy said the contaminated fuel had not been spotted because testing of petrol at the terminal had not included a silicon check, though that test will now be introduced.

"Harvest Energy has now isolated the higher silicon fuel and can guarantee that no further supplies of high silicon unleaded petrol will be distributed from the West Thurrock terminal," the company said in a statement.

Review

Vopak said in a statement late on Friday it had reviewed storage and handling operations at the terminal.

"Vopak can now conclude that the product as received from one of our customers contains a relatively high level of silicon," it said.