Azerbaijan, Baku, August 5 / Trend , E.Ismayilov /
Transportation of Kazakh oil from Tengiz field through the oil terminal of SOCAR (State Oil Company of Azerbaijan) in Kulevi in the Georgian Black Sea coast may be possible only after the completion of dredging at the terminal, a source at the oil market said on August 5.
"Transporting Kazakh oil through the Kulevi terminal may start only after completion of dredging and co-ordination of several issues," said the same source said.
The dredging at the terminal is scheduled to be completed in the coming days. However, the source did not describe other issues requiring coordination.
The work on dredging at the terminal is scheduled to be completed in the first decade of August. Upon completion of these works, the terminal will be able to accept large tonnage tankers.
This year, nearly five million tons of Kazakh oil, with more than three million tons from Tengiz, are planned to be transported through the territory of Azerbaijan.
Tengiz is developed by Kazakh-U.S. TengizShevroil JV. In 2008, the U.S. ChevronTexaco Company started transporting Tengiz oil via the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline. Upon the conditions, Tengiz oil will be transported via BTC and railway to the Georgian ports (Kulevi and Batumi).
According to the data provided by the State Statistics Committee, in first half year of 2009, 907,700 tons of Tengiz oil were transported via BTC.
The Georgian Black Sea terminal in Kulevi is owned by SOCAR and in Batumi by KazMunayGas.
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