Azerbaijan, Baku / corr. Trend S.Aliyev / By the end of the year, the first part of the new oil terminal and port in the Garadagh district of Azerbaijan will be launched, said the member of the Board of Directors of Cross Caspian Oil Gas Logistics, Tahir Gezel.
According to him, at the initial stage, nearly 50,000t of cargo will be processed in the terminal to send through the railway. At the end of 2008, the capacity of the terminal will equal 10mln t and will be expanded in the future, Gezel said.
According to him, the new terminal will differ from previous terminals in Azerbaijan. Its main difference will be that it will have the capacity to receive a small number of large volume shipments of oil. "It is intended for the large volumes of oil from companies working in Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan," Gezel clarified.
Presently negotiations are being held with the consortium of "TengizShevroil" working in Kazakhstan, and the companies participating in the "Kashgan" project, as well as the "Petronas" Company which works in Turkmenistan.
American Nexand has already completed preparing its business plan of the project on the construction of the new oil terminal and port in the Garadagh district.
In the initial phase the reservoir volume of this terminal will hold 200,000cu m with the possibility of increasing it to 600,000cu m, and with shipping of 25mln t a year by railway, 50mln t a year by sea, and 30mln t a year through its connection with the BTC pipeline. According to the initial assessments, the cost of the project totals $95mln. The Azerbaijan Investment Company will also participate in the project.
The terminal in Garadagh will have a remote buoy, non-wharf loading, and the opportunity to accept a tanker with the deadweight of up to 60,000t.
Presently the terminals in the Azerbaijan section of the Caspian are:
- The Baku terminal which has reservoirs with a volume of 100,000cu m, with a capacity to ship 5mln t a year by rail and 5mln t a year by sea;
- Sangachal terminal which has reservoirs with a volume of 320,000cu m, with a capacity to ship 8.5mln t a year by rail, 6mln t a year by sea, and 9mln t a year through its connection with the BTC pipeline; and
- The Dubendi terminal which has reservoirs with a volume of 340,000 cu m, a capacity to ship 10mln t a year by rail and 10mln t a year by sea.