Saudi Aramco is among the first purchasers of products manufactured by Black Sea Petroleum (BSP), Georgia’s first full-scale oil refinery. In an exclusive interview with BMG, BSP co-founder and CEO David Potskhveria said the company has already completed its initial shipments to the Saudi energy giant, as well as to Trafigura, one of the world’s largest multinational oil trading companies headquartered in Singapore.
The $600 million refinery project, located in Kulevi, has already completed its first phase, exceeding a budget of $150 million. The plant currently has the capacity to produce 1.2 million tons of semi-finished petroleum products, including feedstock for naphtha, fuel oil, and diesel. Upon completion of the second phase, the refinery will be able to manufacture Euro-5 gasoline, aviation fuel, and Euro-diesel, raising total annual output to 4.5 million tons. BSP aims to position Georgia as a future oil exporter, selling both domestically and internationally.
Potskhveria noted that BSP initially began operations using Russian crude but plans to fully replace it with Turkmen, Kazakh, and other non-Russian feedstock in order to qualify for access to the EU market, which bans products refined from Russian-origin oil. One challenge, he said, has been the delay in Azerbaijan’s approval of Turkmen crude transit through its territory toward Georgia - a key logistical link BSP hopes will be resolved soon. The company also anticipates future transit of Kazakh crude through the same corridor.
To ensure full compliance with international sanctions, Potskhveria emphasized that each procurement undergoes a multi-stage verification process involving British and Swiss legal experts, Georgia’s Revenue Service, and the SOCAR-operated Kulevi terminal, which serves as the logistical gateway for incoming crude and outgoing products. BSP is also integrated into KYC (“Know Your Customer”) systems and receives legally certified compliance opinions from partner firms, including a UK law firm licensed by HM Treasury. The company recently signed a licensing agreement with U.S. corporation Honeywell, which will supply engineering and technology for the refinery’s advanced production line, while BSP is in talks with the U.S. Export–Import Bank to finance Honeywell’s technology deliveries to Georgia.
