February 25, 2016 [Georgia Today] - To expand the storage capacities of the terminal, a new reservoir is to be built at the Kulevi Oil Terminal, located in the Khobi District, on the eastern Black Sea coast in Georgia.
The Kulevi Oil terminal management announced that Azerbaijans State Oil Company’s SOCAR’s Research institute has prepared a project for the construction of an additional storage tank, which will create opportunities for a more flexible response to the requirements of the current petroleum market.
Construction work will begin as soon as the company receives an environmental permit for the construction of the new reservoir.
On February 29th, a public discussion over the environmental impact of the Black Sea Terminal’s new project will be held at the administrative building in Khobi Municipality at 3pm.
“All environmental risks associated with the construction and operation process of a facility should be assessed and controlled. One of the steps to obtaining an environmental permit is through the public discussion of Environmental Impact Assessment,” Kulevi Oil Terminal administration commented.
The idea to build Kulevi Oil Terminal started in 1998. According to special survey forecasts, between 2010-2015 Georgian ports wouldn’t be able to handle the expected volumes of oil and oil products. Thus in 1999, under the late Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, the Georgian government signed an order to construct Kuveli Oil Terminal and port.
The construction began near the village of Kulevi in 2000, constructed by Terminal 2000 Ltd. Two years later, the project was interrupted, due to environmental concerns from the local community and insufficient funds, but in 2004 it was resumed under an international consortium of investors led by late Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili.
