OREANDA-NEWS. May 20, 2010. Kulevi-based Black Sea Terminal of the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR) has started transshipping Kazakh oil belonging to Tengizchevroil (TCO).

SOCAR reports that this opens a new stage of Terminal’s development and is recognition of its conformity to international standards. Transshipment is carried out by Azerbaijani and Georgian railways.

“Over the last year Terminal’s turnover tripled. Its reservoir park totals 320,000 cu m and capacity on fuel filling is 8,000-12,000 cu m an hour. Terminal’s railroad overpass enables to accept 168 cisterns,” the Company informed.

The beginning of TCO oil transshipment was preceded by analysis of BST’s readiness to dispatch Kazakh oil.

Earlier Vagif Aliyev, the head of the SOCAR Investment Management Department and chairman of the Cross Caspian’s Board of Directors, said that the oil transshipping contract between TCO and Cross Caspian was signed for oil transportation through ports Batumi and Kulevi and while currently export was being carried out through Batumi the Kulevi-based terminal was able to meet a condition of acceptance and loading on aframax tankers with tonnage of 80,000 only by October 2009.

“Time of cargo distribution between Batumi and Kulevi came in fact after the first loading on aframax. But TCO set a condition of equipping thre port with special equipment to control streams, height and direction of waves. Such a system has been created and this March the TCO specialists will conduct the final, as we expect, monitoring to confirm terminal’s ability to dispatch Kazakh oil. After that we hope that our terminal will start accepting certain volumes, moreover taking into account stoppage of TCO oil export via Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline,” he said.

Under the contract, supplies should be divided equally between Batumi and Kulevi but supplies already carried out in 2009 will not be taken into account when calculating this parity.

“We have not right to indicate the oil owner the direction of export and dispatch (they are chose on their application), but hope that transshipment through Kulevi will start already in 2010,” Aliyev said.

The Kulevi-based terminal is able to meet TCO’s orders and carry 4 or 5 million tons of its oil a year.