Azeri state oil firm Socar will start shipping crude from a new terminal on Georgia's Black Sea coast within the next few months after expanding the port for larger tankers, the head of the port said on Wednesday.
Black Sea Terminal, 51 percent-owned by Socar, plans to increase overall shipments of oil and products from Kulevi port by at least 50 percent, General Director Karim Guliyev told Reuters in an interview.
"In a couple of months' time, we will start shipping crude," Guliyev said on the sidelines of the 16th Caspian International Oil and Gas Conference. "At the moment, we are doing about 200,000 tonnes a month of oil products."
Azerbaijan, an ex-Soviet country with a coastline on the Caspian Sea, plans by 2015 to be producing more than 50 million tonnes a year of oil and is opening up new export routes. The Kulevi port, which opened a year ago, allows Socar access to the Black Sea.
The port is one of several projects undertaken by Socar in neighbouring Georgia. The company plans to open 15 filling stations in Georgia this year to add to the 23 already there, while it also won tenders to supply gas to 30 cities and regions of the country."That's about 1 million people, plus thousands of companies," Socar President Rovnag Adullayev told the conference.
"Socar Energy Georgia paid more than 172 million lari ($104 million) into the Georgian state budget last year," he said.
Socar will supply much of the oil to be shipped from Black Sea Terminal, but it will not be the only supplier, said Guliyev, the port company's director. He declined to say where else the terminal would source crude or products.
"The world financial crisis has impacted our performance. We are not satisfied with trans-shipment volumes but we are working to increase these volumes every month," he said.
"A channel is being dredged and, in a couple of months, we will be in a position to receive bigger tankers."
Socar said in April it was planning to almost triple crude exports to North America to 200,000 barrels per day. About 40 percent of Socar's current exports are to the American and Asian markets, up from 10-15 percent three years ago.
Black Sea Terminal, 51 percent-owned by Socar, plans to increase overall shipments of oil and products from Kulevi port by at least 50 percent, General Director Karim Guliyev told Reuters in an interview.
"In a couple of months' time, we will start shipping crude," Guliyev said on the sidelines of the 16th Caspian International Oil and Gas Conference. "At the moment, we are doing about 200,000 tonnes a month of oil products."
Azerbaijan, an ex-Soviet country with a coastline on the Caspian Sea, plans by 2015 to be producing more than 50 million tonnes a year of oil and is opening up new export routes. The Kulevi port, which opened a year ago, allows Socar access to the Black Sea.
The port is one of several projects undertaken by Socar in neighbouring Georgia. The company plans to open 15 filling stations in Georgia this year to add to the 23 already there, while it also won tenders to supply gas to 30 cities and regions of the country."That's about 1 million people, plus thousands of companies," Socar President Rovnag Adullayev told the conference.
"Socar Energy Georgia paid more than 172 million lari ($104 million) into the Georgian state budget last year," he said.
Socar will supply much of the oil to be shipped from Black Sea Terminal, but it will not be the only supplier, said Guliyev, the port company's director. He declined to say where else the terminal would source crude or products.
"The world financial crisis has impacted our performance. We are not satisfied with trans-shipment volumes but we are working to increase these volumes every month," he said.
"A channel is being dredged and, in a couple of months, we will be in a position to receive bigger tankers."
Socar said in April it was planning to almost triple crude exports to North America to 200,000 barrels per day. About 40 percent of Socar's current exports are to the American and Asian markets, up from 10-15 percent three years ago.