SOCAR builds new tank farm at oil terminal in Georgia

Baku, Azerbaijan, July 5 By Maksim Tsurkov – Trend: Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR has completed construction of a new tank farm on the company’s Black Sea oil terminal in Kulevi (Georgia), said the terminal’s message posted on its website July 5. The project envisages construction of six tanks with a total capacity of 60,000 cubic meters and a two-line railway overpass for simultaneous unloading and loading of 26 tankers. “The tanks will be used for the storage of oil products,” the message said. “Modern methods and special paint coating materials were used for corrosion protection. The inner surface of the tanks was thoroughly cleaned. Multilayer system was used for the outer surface, so corrosion protection meets modern international standards.” Construction of this facility for the receipt, storage and loading of various oil products such as gasoline, naphtha, condensate, diesel and jet fuel is aimed at increasing the exports and imports of oil products to and from the Caspian Sea region. The turnover of the new tank farm is estimated at 1.5 million tons of oil and oil products per year. The terminal in Georgia's Kulevi was commissioned in May 2008 and the oil transshipment started in June of the same year. The total capacity of the terminal is 10 million tons of bulk-oil cargo per year, three million tons of oil, three million tons of diesel fuel and four million tons of fuel oil.