{
  "id": 90789,
  "title": "Georgia's only refinery to end Russian oil purchases and switch to Kazakh and Libyan crude",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/georgias-only-refinery-to-end-russian-oil-purchases-and-switch-to",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-03T14:29:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Voice of Ukraine",
    "slug": "new-voice-of-ukraine",
    "url": "https://english.nv.ua/business/georgia-s-kulevi-refinery-to-stop-processing-russian-oil-50629501.html"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Black Sea Petroleum LLC, the owner of the only oil refinery in Georgia located at Kulevi port, announced plans to cease Russian oil purchases and begin refining crude from Kazakhstan and Libya in August and September 2026. The European Union, under its 21st sanctions package, had added the Kulevi refinery to its sanctions list, providing it until January 25, 2027, to transition away from Russian crude oil. The refinery had started processing Kazakh oil in early July and is set to commence Libyan crude refining in August. The agreement for Libyan oil supplies was signed on July 3, 2026, and is valid until the end of 2027 with an extension option. The first shipment of Libyan crude is anticipated to arrive in Kulevi between August 20 and August 30, according to Black Sea Petroleum LLC. Russia had initially supplied Russian crude oil to Georgia's new Kulevi refinery, which boasts an annual processing capacity of 1.2 million metric tons, starting in October 2025. Black Sea Petroleum LLC had announced its intent to halt processing of Russian oil in March 2026, intending to shift to feedstock from Turkmenistan and subsequently Kazakhstan. The Kulevi refinery, Georgia's sole oil refinery, initially opened in late 2025 with a capacity of 1.2 million metric tons per year and will expand to 4.5 million metric tons annually with the completion of its second phase. The total investment in the project is estimated at $700 million. Situated adjacent to the Kulevi oil terminal, owned by the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR), the refinery was commissioned in May 2008. The terminal possesses an annual handling capacity of 10 million metric tons of oil cargo.",
  "summary": "Black Sea Petroleum LLC, which owns the oil refinery at Georgia's Kulevi port, will switch to processing Kazakh and Libyan crude in August and September 2026, ending purchases of Russian oil, The Moscow Times reported on Aug. 3.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 3,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Times of India",
        "title": "Russian crude imports in July highest since Ukraine war",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/russian-crude-imports-in-july-highest-since-ukraine-war",
        "published": "2026-08-03T00:15:43.000Z"
      },
      {
        "outlet": "New Voice of Ukraine",
        "title": "Russia occupied more territory than Ukraine liberated in July — DeepState",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/03/russia-occupied-more-territory-than-ukraine-liberated-in-july",
        "published": "2026-08-03T07:07:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}