Tankers are keeping away from the Georgian oil port of Batumi following the military conflict between Russia and Georgia since last Thursday.

Reuters reported that tankers are currently not going into Batumi, while the other Georgian oil port of Supsa is operating only partially.

“Batumi is partly operating with only one berth, with bulk and general cargoes only.  Tankers are still off limits, they have not brought any in,” a shipping agent has been quoted saying.

“Supsa has started working and is now accumulating cargoes for a few vessels but they haven't had any vessels berth as yet,” he added.

Elsewhere the port of Poti is badly damaged from Russian bombers and shut down, according to the Georgian government.

The port disruptions have exacerbated a slowdown in oil loading activities that began when an unrelated explosion in Turkey last week hit the 1 million barrel per day Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline.

The explosion already cut supply from the Azeri oil field to world markets.  Supsa, Poti and Batumi are all terminals for Azeri oil.

The BTC pipeline is the world's second largest and runs from Azerbaijan through southern Georgia into Turkey.

Both Russia and Georgia have declared a ceasefire after Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military operations in Georgia on Tuesday in support of an international peace plan promoted by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.