February 18, 2015 [OPIS] - Amsterdam is the biggest hub in northwest Europe for clean petroleum products (CPP) tank storage, having just over 6 million cubic meters of an estimated 15.5 million cubic meters of capacity in the ARA region, a new survey from oil and chemical industry adviser Downstream B.V. shows.
The Downstream B.V. study estimates all commercial tank storage for crude, products and chemicals in the Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp area at 33.5 million cubic meters.
The study said estimates assumed that some facilities, mostly crude storage tanks in Rotterdam, were commercially independent even if capacity was largely dedicated for nearby refinery operations and not fully commercially available.
Rotterdam had an estimated 2.9 million cubic meters of capacity for CPP tank storage and Antwerp was at 2.28 million cubic meters, the study showed.
This was based on how capacities were used in the last half of 2014, according to the ARA Liquid Throughput Study by Rotterdam-based Downstream B.V. .
The ARA region is the world’s largest hub for crude, petroleum products and liquid chemicals, with average annual incoming and outgoing seaborne tonnage at 294.4 million tons over the prior five years, according to Downstream, citing analysis of ports’ statistics.
Petroleum products, both clean and dirty, account for more than 50% of all liquid trade, with just over half going to Rotterdam according to the survey.
“The allotted capacities are somewhat arbitrary but we believe that the overall picture that emerges … within small margins, (is) a reliable portrait for which product the ARA storage capacities are currently used,” the report said.
Rotterdam port throughput of clean and dirty petroleum products averaged 77.9 million tons a year in the 2010-2014 period, followed by Amsterdam with 38.9 million tons and Antwerp with 35.2 million tons, according to the study. Ports don’t separate clean and dirty products in statistics.
