The global oil storage market is expected to reach 1.8 Billion cubic meters by 2025, growing steadily at a CAGR of over 3.18 percent during the forecast period according to US-based market research firm Xpodence Research. The decrease in crude oil prices, increasing need for oil refining hubs, unpredictable variations in global rates of natural gases and crude oil are the factors encouraging the merchants to own fuel storage facilities and fueling the growth of oil storage market across the globe.
The decrease in the prices of crude oil is motivating several merchants to own high quality of petroleum fuel and stock them at storage facilities, so they can sell it at higher costs when crude oil rates fluctuate or there is a shortage of oil. Moreover, stockpiling large volumes of oil have facilitated the government of the developing nations, to protect their citizens and country from price hike and out of stock incidents. These are the major factors fueling the growth of oil storage market across the globe.
Oil storage facilities utilize tanks or terminals to store produced oil placed above or below ground surface. Oil storage is a means of collecting products before being distributed to refineries and retailers. Oil processing is divided into three streams, upstream, midstream and downstream. Oil is initially extracted in the upstream process, where the exploration and production are conducted. The midstream sector involves the transportation, storage and wholesale marketing of petroleum products following the upstream extraction process, whereas, downstream operations might also use storage tanks to collect oil for further processing and marketing.
Oil storage tanks differ in capacity and design, as earlier storage tanks were built of metal and wood mounts that formed large barrels. As technology advanced, storage tanks increased in size and capacity to store oil safely. The designs are specifically preferred to handle high-pressure conditions of the liquid stored, to manage ventilation and prevent leakage and corrosion. Increase in adoption of alternative fuels for cleaner and greener transportation. Use of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) to power marine containers and increase in LNG driven projects are the current trends in the global oil storage market.
Prominent players involved in the development of oil storage, includes Synder, ZCL Composites, L.F. Manufacturing, Vopak, Superior Tank Company, Tianjin Anson International Company (TICO), CST Industries, Synalloy (Palmer), Elixir, Roth Industries, Ergil, Waterford Tank & Fabrication, Sri Ranga Industries and Hydrotherm Engineering Services among others.
The global oil storage market is bifurcated based on storage type, product type, reserve type and region. Based on the storage type, the market is segmented as open top tanks, fixed roof tanks, floating roof tanks and other storage facilities.
Further bifurcation of the market is based on the product type, which includes crude oil, gasoline, aviation fuel and middle distillates. Crude oil storage market is projected to grow at the fastest rate over the forecast period. Rising infrastructure and industry projects, which are an integral part of the investment cycle, have increased the demand for crude oil. Renovation and development of oil refining facilities will further favor the business scenario.
The global oil storage market is segmented based on reserve type as strategic petroleum reserve and commercial petroleum reserve. Strategic petroleum reserves have dominated the market during 2017 and are anticipated to continue controlling the market over the forecast period. These reserves store crude supplies delivered by public and private companies for maintaining national security and protecting economy during the energy crisis.
The Middle East and African regions are projected to have the largest market share in the oil storage market across the globe. This is due to the fact that countries such as Qatar, Oman, Nigeria, UAE, Iran and Saudi Arabia have a large scale of worlds proven oil reserves and ranked as the largest producer and exporter of oil in the world.
Asia Pacific region is also expected to grow at the fastest pace across the globe during the forecast period. China and India’s oil storage market are growing significantly on account of increasing capital investment towards the development of storage capacity from foreign and domestic companies. Moreover, the Government of China, in 2016, had announced to build supplementary 441 million barrels of strategic petroleum reserves by 2020. Growing focus towards the expansion of refinery facilities in the country is expected to further expand the market.
