US trade drives oil-storage expansions

The US independent oil-storage business is seeing capacity expansions and corporate acquisitions, as leading operators position to meet trade-driven growth, Martin Quinlan writes

US OIL-products consumption has declined every year since 2005 (see Figure 1) – but the independent storage operators have seen demand for their services increase as trade has expanded. Strong physical flows, particularly as a result of the proliferation of gasoline components, are driving business at the coastal terminals, while inland facilities are benefiting from price contangoes (futures prices higher than prompt prices) in crude and refined products.  The result is a wave of construction projects, together with corporate activity as the larger operators play for market-share. Healthy storage fees have also attracted new participants, typically traders, into storage investmen