The terminal told Trend Jan. 15 that given the development tendency in regional and international oil and gas market, the Kulevi oil terminal’s management is constantly reviewing the possibility to expand the oil cargo transhipment ranges to boost the terminal’s competitiveness in the region.

At a suggestion from the terminal, SOCAR’s Oil and Gas Research and Design Institute developed a project to build an additional oil depot.

The capacity of the complex for receiving, storing and loading various oil products such as gasoline, naphtha, diesel, jet fuel and others, stands at 1.5 million metric tons per year.

The project involves the construction of five reservoirs with a total capacity of 70,000 cubic meters, and includes two-way railroad overpass for simultaneous loading and unloading of 26 tank cars.

The terminal said the cargos delivered to the terminal will be unloaded using a pumping station, which will sport separate pumps and production lines for receiving various oil products.

The transportation system also includes launchers and receiving stations that will completely empty the cargo pipelines during operation or maintenance.

“The project will significantly expand the storage capacity of the terminal and will provide the opportunities to be more flexible when responding to requests from the current crude oil market,” the terminal told Trend.

The Kulevi terminal in Georgia was commissioned in May 2008, and the transhipment of oil products began in June.

Its total capacity stands at 10 million metric tons of oil cargo per year, including three million metric tons of oil, three million metric tons of diesel fuel, and four million metric tons of mazut.

The total capacity of the tank farm in the terminal stands at 320,000 cubic meters with the possibility of increasing to 380,000 cubic meters.