Sustainable storage and the COVID-19 pandemic

Arend van Campen and Aimee Cabalo from Tank Terminal Training and TSSI examine the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on tank storage demand and how it might affect the push towards sustainability The COVID-19 pandemic unexpectedly and temporarily filled global storage tanks to the brim. Tankers, unable to transport crude and petroleum products profited by being chartered to store even more oil and petroleum on board as tank storage availability became scarce. Refineries had to slow down or suspend refining. Now, as the threat of the virus lessens, we have to ask some important questions. What did we learn? How can we apply what the pandemic taught us and implement this knowledge into our future business model? CONSUMERISM As a result of the pandemic, people realised that they do not need to travel so much. Concentrations of thousands of people on cruise ships or in airports suddenly lost their appeal. Not being able to go to the office opened new ways of online work and communicating which drastically reduced the need for travel. This reduction of urban and international commuting decreased the demand for fuels significantly, so we must anticipate that business as usual will...