Azernews.Az

Azeri state oil firm SOCAR's Kulevi terminal to facilitate transit of Caspian crude was inaugurated on Georgia's Black Sea coast on Thursday.
The opening of the largest such facility in the South Caucasus region was attended by Azerbaijani Prime Minister Artur Rasizada and President of the state oil company SOCAR Rovnag Abdullayev, Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili and Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze.
The SOCAR boss told the ceremony that the terminal, valued at a total of $350 million, will have the capacity to receive 10 million tons of oil and refined products a year in the initial stage. The volume will be increased to 15-20 million tons within the next two years.
Abdullayev said the facility will allow to simultaneously unload 168 railway carriages. According to estimates, tankers with the capacity ranging between 100,000 to 150,000 tons of oil will dock at the port.
The Kulevi terminal will be used for refined products from SOCAR, later shifting to crude exports which will be transported to Georgia's Batumi port on the Black Sea.
Oil and refined products from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan will also go to Kulevi via Azerbaijan.
Construction of the Kulevi terminal started in spring 2000 but was suspended in 2003 over financial constraints. The facility was bought by SOCAR last year from a Georgian businessman.
SOCAR produces 5 million tons of refined oil products annually, 2 million of which are exported. Almost 9 million tons of crude oil is produced a year at its fields, which are mostly old.