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To say that the global tank terminal business is large is an understatement. There are more than 4900 tank terminals comprising more than 1 billion cubic meters of storage capacity. The business has grown at a compounded annual growth rate of 3% since 2005 and in coming years another 10% will be added to global tank capacity. Some might argue that capacity has grown too fast and that we are approaching a situation where markets are ‘over-tanked’. But is this really the case? This is a very relevant question for many players. For instance, if you are a business development manager at a terminal operator you need to understand this because it can guide you in determining if and where to invest. Another example are investors. If you are an investor in infrastructure assets you need to understand this in order to decide on investing or divesting in and valuating terminal assets.

So understanding the balance between supply and demand for terminal markets is very important for many people. One thing to keep in mind is that terminal markets are on the one hand very local in nature but on the other hand these markets are driven by global factors such as trade flows and commodity price dynamics. This makes these markets rather complex. Nevertheless in this article we will try to shed some light on this topic in order to unravel this complexity. We will take the approach to focus on how tank terminals are used by their clients and how this adds value to these clients. To support this approach we will use INSIGHTS© GLOBAL’s model on terminal functions.

• Logistics/hub function
• Trading platform
• Strategic storage

Every terminal essentially has a logistics or hub function. This is the prime function. Some terminals are also used as a trading platform by its clients. Physical commodity traders require terminals for their business model. The last function a terminal can have is to store crude or oil products as part of a country’s strategic petroleum reserves. This last function is interesting for a specific terminal operator but from an economic analysis point of view less relevant because it is dependent on specific policies defined by governments. We therefore leave this function outside of the scope of this article.

So we will focus of the logistics and trading platform functions. After careful analysis of these functions and the value it can bring to clients of terminals we concluded that there are three key factors that act as business indicators for tank terminal markets:

• Commodity price dynamics
• Inventory levels
• Trade flows

If you are analyzing business at a specific terminal you need to look at these factors in the local context. However, for the purpose of this article we have looked at these factors on a global scale and we have focused on oil markets.

Oil price dynamics

Current oil price levels are low and rather volatile. The low price levels stimulates demand and the increased volatility creates trading opportunities. The forward curve is downward sloping (backwardation) which weighs on arbitrage opportunities. However, some institutions like the EIA are forecasting a slight oversupplied global crude market, which could soften the backwardation or even flip it to a contango, which would be good news for the terminal sector.

Inventory levels

Global crude and oil product inventories are on the lower end. This is related to the backwardation price structure. So tanks are slightly underutilized right now.

Trade flows

Global crude and oil products trade flows have been increasing at a steady rate in the last decade. This rate resembles the growth rate in tank capacity and thus signals that the balance between tank capacity and tank demand is more or less balanced. This is a very positive sign.

The main conclusion from the above analysis is that the global market does not seem to be over-tanked and that the current situation is set to improve significantly after oil price dynamics change to fully support the terminal business. So the future is definitely bright for the terminal business!

About the author

Patrick Kulsen is Managing Director and Senior Consultant at INSIGHTS GLOBAL, a market research company specialized in oil and petrochemical markets. The company’s consultancy team has successfully helped clients with research and commercial due diligence projects for many years. For more information on our consultancy services please follow this link.

In the world of international tank storage, thousands of terminals give access to commercial storage. These terminals are located all over the world. From large tank farms in oil trading hubs in ARA, USGC, Fujairah and Singapore to small depots on Guam or Greenland.

The tank storage sector is not a static industry but a dynamic one which grows every year. It is interesting to find out which regions have the most investments planned or are currently building new additions.

In picture 1 can be seen where the largest concentrations of tank terminals are.

The world’s hottest storage hotspots

Estimates are that global tank storage capacity will grow 8% to 1.03 billion cbm in 2020 and even 11.5% to 1.06 billion cbm in 2021.

When ranking the regions with the largest total tank capacity in 2019 the following list can be produced: 1) Asia (360Mcbm), 2) Europe (235Mcbm), 3) North America (191Mcbm), 4) Middle East (50.8Mcbm), 5) South America (45.5Mcbm), 6) Africa (43.6Mcbm), and 7) Oceania (4.4Mcbm).

In 2020 the ranking is as followed: 1) Asia (383.7Mcbm), 2) Europe (244Mcbm), 3) North America (207Mcbm), 4) Middle East (93.3Mcbm), 5) Africa (48.9Mcbm), 6) South America (47.8Mcbm), and 7) Oceania (4.7Mcbm).

Analyzing this list some remarkable conclusion can be taken:

-The Middle East will show the strongest growth rate with 84% in 2020 as capacity in this regions grows from 50.8Mcbm to 93.3Mcbm;

-Africa will leapfrog South America and take position 5. This continent shows a growth rate of 12%. Storage capacity increases from 43.6Mcbm to 48.9Mcbm.

-Europe will grow by 4% till 2020 and is the slowest growing region of all the 7 regions. Capacity in this region grows from 235Mcb to 244Mcbm

Although, looking at regions is sort of looking at it as from a macro-level perspective, we can well say that the Middle East will be the hottest tank terminal location in 2020. There are some interesting locations in the Middle East that have a substantial part in the additions in this region.

Fast growing areas in the Middle East

Oman Tank Terminal in Raz Markaz

In Oman storage of oil liquids is concentrated around the ports of Salalah, around Oman’s capital Muscat and Sohar’s industrial area. Oman’s government owned investment company OOC, Oman Oil Company announced a major investment in 2012 on building a massive 31Mcbm crude storage facility in Ras Markaz. Some 200 tanks will be added. Estimates are that this terminal will be operational as from June 2019. With this investment Oman is trying to develop its position as an important global trading and storage hub.

South Oil Company in Iraq

Roughly said, Iraq has storage facilities in its oil fields in the North, around Kirkuk, Al Anbar and Erbil and in the South, around Basrah. Most of these terminals are controlled by the Ministry of Oil of the Republic of Iraq. Government-owned South Oil Company will add 2.78Mcbm of crude capacity in Al Zubair and another 0.464Mcbm in Fao. For the first addition applies that some 489 crude tanks will be built. December 2019 has been pointed as data of operation. For the latter, applies that 5 tanks will be built and this expansion is planned to become operational in December 2020.

Jask Oil Terminal in Iran

In Iran, storage facilities are controlled by state-owned Iranian Oil Terminals CO. These terminals are mostly located at the Persian Gulf and the gulf of Oman, connected with each-other by the infamous Strait of Hormuz. Not in the 2019 and 2020 numbers but definitely worth mentioning is the 10Mcbm crude addition in Jask. Jask is peninsula that runs into the Gulf of Oman. The Jask Oil Terminal will include 20 tanks with floating roofs. he terminal will also include loading and unloading wharves, offshore facilities including three single-point mooring (SPM), and other infrastructure for import/export oil. Estimates are that this addition will be active in December 2021.

The data for this article was gathered with the support of tankterminals.com’s database platform. With only a few clicks and couple of seconds the information of the biggest market players in the various regions was obtained.

For more information, contact:
Jacob van den Berge, Head of Marketing & Sales Insights Global

In the global commercial tank storage industry thousands of terminal operators are active. Without taking a terminal operator’s specific function, it is interesting to learn who the biggest players are in the international tank terminal industry.

In picture 1 can be seen where the largest concentrations of tank terminals are.

Looking on a global level the following top 10 terminal operators can be derived. See table 1.

As can be seen in this list, based on total capacity, the biggest players are located in China with Sinopec, CNPC and PetroChina, followed by US with Kinder Morgan, Buckeye, Marathon, Enterprise and Magellan and Europe with Vopak and Oiltanking. With a combined total capacity of 223Mcbm, the top 10 players cover around 21% of the total capacity globally.

A bit more details on the three biggest storage operators

Sinopec Group, Chinese dragon at the top of the food chain

Sinopec Group, China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, is a Chinese energy company based in Beijing (China). It is the second largest oil producing company after PetroChina. Besides 50 terminals (with a total storage capacity of 44Mcbm, mostly located in China) and 30.000 petrol stations, this company operates dozens of refineries, around half of the Chinese refinery capacity. Sinopec has various listings on stocks exchanges but for the majority the shares remains in the hands of the Chinese government. In 2017, total revenues was around €300 billion.

Vopak, Dutch giant with a global storage print

Vopak is an independent storage player with a long history dating back to the early 16the century. Independent means it does not own the oil products its stores. It therefor holds an independent position in the market unlike for instance Sinopec and CNPC, the number 1 and 3 in the list. The 69 terminals of Vopak are scattered around the globe. It has locations in more than 20 countries with largest concentration of terminals in the Netherlands, followed by China and the US. In 2018, Vopak’s revenues lay at €1.25 billion.

China National Petroleum Corp, a powerful energy emperor

CNPC is a one of the biggest vertical integrated oil companies in the world. Its origins date back to 1949 when communist China was formed. The company rose from Ministry of Petroleum which secured and managed the country’s fuel. It operates oil assets in more than 30 countries, except for the 24 storage terminals (with a total capacity of 25.7Mcbm) which are mainly located in the Chinese homeland. In the downstream area it also operates more than 20.000 petrol stations.

Are storage capacity market shares equal across the globe’s regions?

Is the global division of market shares similar for the different regions? Absolutely not. Let us analyze the regions with the largest concentration of terminals. The regions with the most terminals are the United States (1.447), Europe (1,125) and Asia (1.057).

In the United States, the tank storage is dominated by publicly owned storage operators with US origins. The top three consist of 1) Kinder Morgan, 2) Magellan and 3) Buckeye. The remainder of the top 10 consists only out of US-born tank storage players.

In Europe, the top 3 biggest players are 1) Vopak, 2) Oiltanking and 3) CLH. These companies are also publicly owned and have a broad international coverage which means they have a global storage footprint. For instance Vopak is ranked number 6 in Asia and Oiltanking is ranked number 12 in Asia.

In Asia the top 3 consist solely of Chinese state-owned companies: 1) Sinopec, 2) CNPC and 3) PetroChina. Their number four is a Japanese company, JX Nippon Corporation and the number five as the Korean Gas Corporation. As mentioned before, ranked six is Vopak.

As can be concluded, the global players take a large piece of the pie. However, there is enough room for other tank terminal players to operate a sustainable business in specific regions, countries or ports. Furthermore, the competitive dynamics differ per region, so tank terminal players face different opponents in various regions.

The data for this article was gathered with the support of TankTerminals.com’s database platform. With only a few clicks and couple of seconds the information of the biggest market players in the various regions was obtained.