“Short term, the capacity issue will lead to an equalization of rate structures, which may be good news for those renting tank space,” TankBank Managing Director Tony Quinn said today in Amsterdam at the European Oil Storage conference hosted by Platts, the energy-information division of McGraw-Hill Cos. “I’m already seeing empty tanks on the European market. Not huge amounts, but here and there.”

Valuations of tank terminals have increased in the past five years, mainly because of buyers’ strategic considerations, Quinn said. Purchasers are often the terminals’ biggest customers and want to ensure availability of storage, he said.

“If you are doing 70 percent of a terminal’s business, and you hear it’s for sale, you’ll probably want to buy it,” he said. “Someone else buying it may lead to problems for you.”

The sale by Royal Vopak NV of its stake in the Bahamas Oil Refining Co. International to U.S. pipeline operator Buckeye Partners LP this year implied a price equal to about 20 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization. That compares with multiples around eight to nine times Ebitda in 2006, Quinn said.