"We are thinking over the construction of an oil refinery in Supsa - the last point of a western pipeline carrying oil from Azerbaijan," Gia Chanturia, president of Georgian International Oil Corporation said.

The 830-km (516 miles) Baku-Supsa pipeline, which was commissioned in April 1999, is pumping at full capacity and takes all of the BP Amoco-led Azerbaijan International Operating Company's 115,000 barrel per day (bpd) production, he said. The $560-million line has an annual capacity of five million tonnes of oil. "We don't know yet what the refinery's capacity will be, who will invest money in its construction and it's difficult to estimate the probable amount of investment," Chanturia said.