News

Coming hot off the heels of AntwerpXL, the SPRINT Robotics conference and the World Hydrogen Congress, the October/November issue of Tank Storage Magazine, is now available to read online or in print. This exciting issue focuses on digitalisation and cybersecurity, featuring: An exclusive look at Vopak, Gasunie and HES International’s cross-company collaboration: ACE Terminal Rotterdam …
Read More »

Russian suicide drones have hit storage tanks containing sunflower oil at a terminal in the Ukrainian port city of Mykolaiv.  Mykolaiv is one of the biggest ports in Ukraine. Shipments were halted at the start of the Russian invasion, but Ukraine has been pushing to reopen the port to expand shipments of food under a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey.   Witnesses reported smoke…
Read More »

ExxonMobil, a multinational oil and gas corporation, has entered into an agreement with CF, a leading global manufacturer of hydrogen and nitrogen products, to capture and permanently store up to 2 million metric tonnes of CO2 emissions annually from its manufacturing complex in Louisiana, USA. ‘CF Industries is pleased to partner with ExxonMobil through this definitive CO2 offtake agreement,…
Read More »

Bill Bryant, Stolt-Nielsen's managing director for APAC & MEA and head of sustainability, explored upcoming bunkering trends with other industry leaders at the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA)'s conference (SIBCON) in Singapore. Bryant urges the shipping industry to take ‘scalability and economic viability of the whole production supply chain’ into consideration when…
Read More »

Multiple ships carrying liquified natural gas (LNG) are collecting off the coast of Spain, unable to secure slots to unload. The situation has prompted grid operators to warn they may have to suspend loading while they deal with the ‘exceptional situation’.   As the region attempts regasification of the LNG cargo, this situation has laid bare the limited capacity of Europe to do so. Plants…
Read More »

Jon Ackerman from Vopak Moda Houston tells Tank Storage Magazine about the first greenfield terminal in the Port of Houston in more than a decade. In December 2021, Vopak Moda Houston, a terminal in the Port of Houston, US, announced that it was fully operational. But this was not any old terminal. Vopak Moda Houston was the first greenfield terminal developed in the Port for more than ten…
Read More »

Tank Storage Magazine talks to engineering specialist Transtech Energy about the challenges involved with building Vopak Moda Houston’s bullet tanks. As part of the Vopak Moda Houston project, EPC contractor Transtech Energy, which has over 30 years of experience in the design and construction of liquefied gas terminals and transloading facilities, was tasked with fabrication of the…
Read More »

Jay Reynolds and Ellen Ruhotas tell Tank Storage Magazine how Zenith is serving customers and facing the energy transition head-on. In 2014, terminal industry veteran Jeff Armstrong decided to set up a new midstream company, having left Kinder Morgan, where he was president, in 2013. The new company, he decided, needed to be smaller, more aggressive, more creative, more responsive, and more…
Read More »

Willow Glen Terminal speaks to Tank Storage Magazine about the growth of this young facility, and how they’re paving the way for renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel. Located on the site of a former gas-fired power station, Willow Glen Terminal (WGT) is a multi-modal logistics hub located in St. Gabriel, Louisiana, on the Lower Mississippi River. The power station was decommissioned…
Read More »

ILTA explains what new technologies and procedures might improve terminal operations, and where regulations could be overzealous. The International Liquid Terminals Association (ILTA) and its member companies are dedicated to providing safe, sustainable, efficient, and reliable storage and logistics services for bulk liquids. In July 2021, the board of directors adopted the organisation’s…
Read More »

Paul Wiseman finds that Russia, COVID, inflation, and the strong US dollar are all driving the oil situation in North America. Early in the northern hemisphere summer of 2022, prices for West Texas Intermediate (the US benchmark) as well as Brent Crude (the European benchmark) dropped from previous highs due to concerns about China’s zero COVID policy and demand destruction in the US due to…
Read More »

Cristin Johnson of USA DeBusk explains the new priorities of aboveground storage tank cleaning in the ESG era. In the past, aboveground storage tank cleaning projects were planned and executed with priorities focused predominantly on speed and cost. As long as safety and regulatory compliance standards were satisfied, the key performance indicators (KPIs) focused on metrics such as barrels of…
Read More »

Joel Poe from Applied Impact Robotics discusses the founding of the company and what it can offer the tank storage industry. Applied Impact Robotics (AIR) was formed after winning the HeroX competition in November 2019, spearheaded by Malaysian oil major Petronas. Petronas was seeking a solution to close a critical gap within their storage tank inspection process and partnered with Chrysalix…
Read More »

Innovative Surface Prep reveals the secret to a long-lasting storage tank. The war has gone on for nearly 4000 years, and is still a constant battle to this day. It happens every day and most people pass right by without even noticing. This is not a war you will hear about on the news or learn about in history books, but it is a fight happening across the world. It’s the fight against…
Read More »

Storage tank specialist John Cornell looks at the need for a change in approach to the use of bolted tanks and tank liners. The subject of tank inspections has been an on-going since the Great Molasses Flood in Boston, Massachusetts, US. On 15 January 1919, a storage tank owned by the Purity Distilling Company, filled with 2.3 million US gallons (8,700 m3) of molasses weighing about 12,000…
Read More »

W.T. Cutts, director at AT&V reveals how the company’s cutting edge technology could solve battery storage issues in the industry. The global movement towards clean energy is a complex issue. Finding an affordable solution while balancing environment concerns, human rights, and the current energy enterprise, combined with the involvement of multiple governments, seems impossible. Yet the…
Read More »

Jim Viale from Fisher Tank explains the basics. There are many things to consider when building tanks, but one of the most important considerations when planning a storage tank project is determining who needs to be involved. All stakeholders should have a voice in the process. Purchasing, operations, engineering, and a trusted contractor should all be involved so that no one is operating in a…
Read More »

Joe Mentzer from the Steel Tank Institute/Steel Plate Fabricators Association runs through the basics for field-erected storage tanks. Petroleum Institute’s (API) Tank Inspection Repair, Alteration, and Reconstruction standard, API 653, was first published in 1991 and was a consensus standard created through input from tank fabricators, users, regulators, and others involved in the storage…
Read More »

Matthew Myers from Square Robot shares how new technology can keep tanks in service for longer. Everyone with an above-ground storage tank (AST) recognises the challenges associated with tank inspections. The traditional method of taking a tank out-of-service only to perform a magnetic flux leakage (MFL) inspection can be a major burden on facilities, operations, and the teams managing tanks.…
Read More »

Joseph Lanzoni, VP of Sales Engineering for Lightning Eliminators & Consultants reveals how to avoid costly storage tank fires. Fires involving petroleum storage tanks are not uncommon. According to Henry Persson and Anders Lönnermark’s review of petroleum storage tank fires (1951-2003), the number of tank fires reported in the worldwide media is in the range of 15 to 20 fires per year. A…
Read More »