My chimney company say it s sulphur deposits.
Oil burner exhaust on metal roofs rusting.
You don t want this to occur to your furnace especially along the heat exchangers.
Talking about how i fixed it.
If cracks occur in a heat exchanger because of the weakening.
The great danger of rust to metal is that it eats away at the metal and eventually causes it to crumble and flake away.
Working on our 133 year old house i found the furnace exhaust pipe rusted out.
First and foremost remove any oil grease and dirt present on the rusted metal.
It was serviced previously by his oil co.
Rust is the result of oxidation that occurs when metal oxygen and water mix.
He had a soot up so they cleaned it and gave the burner more air lower co2 i was called in and noticed they could never get higher then 10 co2 without smoke.
Remove the flakes of the rust and paint using a wire brush.
The instant i capped my furnace flue rust like deposits began to condense on the cap drip to the chimney crown and then down to stain my metal roof.
To remove powder and soluble rinse it with water properly.
In sum corrosion and stains on and around metal chimneys include rust flue gas deposits and corrosive condensates though not primarily from oil dye as you suggest rust stains from contact between dissimilar metals occasionally sulfates the main component and even bacteria in oil fired systems.
Light rust does not get removed by simple wiping since it is firmly bonded to the metal surface.