North America Oil Storage Market Size, Share, Trends, Growth, and Forecasts for 2025 - 2032

North America Oil Storage Market Size and Trends

The North America oil storage market size is predicted to reach US$ 1,118.0 Mn in 2032 from US$ 816.0 Mn in 2025. It will likely witness a CAGR of around 4.6% in the forecast period between 2025 and 2032.

The North America oil storage market is undergoing a rapid transformation, pushed by volatile production cycles, export-led growth, and shifting regulatory dynamics. Once viewed merely as passive stockpiles between upstream and downstream operations, storage hubs in the U.S. and Canada have now become strategic pressure valves. Facilities, including Hardisty and Cushing, are not just physical storage points but market-making nodes influencing future contracts and international crude benchmarks.

Key Industry Highlights

• Rising exports of crude and refined products are predicted to foster the expansion of coastal storage hubs and marine terminals.
• Policy incentives for clean energy compliance are enabling the retrofitting and expansion of aging tank systems.
• Environmental regulations on VOC emissions are pushing operators to adopt floating roofs with vapor control systems.
• Crude oil is predicted to hold around 35.1% share in 2025 as variations in crude quality require dedicated tanks to segregate and blend grades for buyers.
• Shale basins such as Permian and Eagle Ford continue to post record outputs, sustaining long-term demand for storage in the U.S.

Market Attribute	Key Insights
North America Oil Storage Market Size (2025E)	US$ 816.0 Mn
Market Value Forecast (2032F)	US$ 1,118.0 Mn
Projected Growth (CAGR 2025 to 2032)	4.6%
Historical Market Growth (CAGR 2019 to 2024)	3.9%

Market Dynamics

Driver - Fluctuating output and refining gaps foster oil storage demand

Fluctuating oil production and consumption patterns are anticipated to propel the North America oil storage market growth through 2032, finds Persistence Market Research. As per a recent study, in the U.S., crude oil production has oscillated between 12.8 and 13.2 Mn barrels per day (bpd) in the first half of 2025. It is attributed to both price volatility and varying rig activity in the Permian and Bakken basins. These fluctuations frequently outpace real-time demand adjustments, compelling producers and midstream operators to depend on storage to absorb the excess. As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), during refinery outages in March 2025, U.S. Gulf Coast storage utilization surged by around 11% in just two weeks, highlighting how sudden dips in domestic refining capacity rapidly increased demand for interim storage.

On the consumption side, seasonal and economic swings are widening the gap between production and end-use demand. Gasoline demand has shown erratic trends in 2025, partly due to macroeconomic uncertainty and the uneven rollout of electric vehicles across states. While peak summer driving season typically lifts gasoline drawdowns, early indications from May 2025 showed weaker-than-expected retail demand, leading to a surprise build of 3.2 Mn barrels in gasoline inventories. These mismatches boost the demand for commercial storage, primarily for refined products such as automotive engine oil awaiting distribution or reblending.

Restraint - Delayed connectivity and pipeline saturation accelerate storage strain

Pipeline bottlenecks in North America are creating significant ripple effects across the oil storage field by trapping crude in upstream regions and accelerating the saturation of storage facilities. A significant example of this dynamic unfolded in early 2025 in the Permian Basin, where record output nearing 6.3 Mn bpd outpaced the available takeaway capacity. Despite expansions such as the Wink-to-Webster and Midland-to-ECHO pipelines, surging production overwhelmed the infrastructure, resulting in localized storage hubs in West Texas nearing 90% utilization.

Traders and producers were compelled to lease short-term storage at a premium, increasing midstream costs and reducing margins. In Canada, infrastructure issues are more challenging. Although the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion finally came online in May 2024, delays in connecting oil and gas pipes, feeder pipelines, and export terminals meant that Alberta’s oil production could not be fully accommodated. This led to storage builds at terminals in Hardisty and Edmonton, where operators reported storage nearing capacity in Q1 2025.

Opportunity - Crude export surge and SPR rebuild spark storage infrastructure growth

Government policies in North America are indirectly boosting demand for oil storage by promoting upstream production, export facilitation, and strategic reserve expansion. In the U.S., the Department of Energy has actively engaged in repurchasing crude to refill the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) after drawing it down to its lowest level since the 1980s in 2022. As of June 2025, the SPR held around 370 Mn barrels, with a stated goal to gradually restore it to at least 450 Mn barrels. These repurchases create sustained demand for federally managed storage, while also triggering commercial lease activity for automotive oil fuel and other refined products awaiting delivery into salt caverns.

Export-oriented policies are also playing a key role. Since the lifting of the U.S. crude oil export ban in 2015, federal and state agencies have invested in port infrastructure to extend export capacity. The Port of Corpus Christi reported record crude oil exports surpassing 2.3 Mn bpd in Q1 2025. To support this volume, private operators such as Moda Midstream and Buckeye Partners have expanded on-site and near-dock storage terminals, adding over 10 Mn barrels of new tank capacity since early 2024.

Category-wise Analysis

Product Insights

Based on product, the North America oil storage market is trifurcated into open top, fixed roof, and floating roof. Out of these, the floating roof segment is predicted to hold approximately 33.7% of share in 2025 due to its effectiveness in minimizing evaporative losses, primarily in areas with high throughput and volatile weather conditions. Floating roof tanks feature a roof that rests directly on the surface of the stored liquid, typically crude oil or gasoline, and rises or falls with the liquid level. This design helps in significantly reducing the vapor space between the roof and the product, limiting the escape of volatile organic compounds.

Fixed roof tanks are expected to showcase steady growth in the foreseeable future as these are ideal for storing low-volatility petroleum products and specialty liquids where vapor control is less critical. These are structurally simpler and more cost-effective than floating roof designs, making them an economical option for terminals handling stable commodities such as lubricants and fuel oil. Several small-scale terminals across the Midwest and inland refinery zones rely heavily on fixed roof tanks to store these types of products due to their low installation and maintenance costs.

Application Insights

In terms of application, the market is divided into crude oil, middle distillates, gasoline, and aviation fuel. Among these, the crude oil segment will likely account for nearly 35.1% of the North America oil storage market share in 2025 due to its significant role in regional production economics, trading logistics, and refining infrastructure. As per EIA, the U.S. and Canada together produce over 18 Mn bpd of crude oil, more than any other country globally. It is further creating a substantial and continuous demand for intermediate and buffer storage.

Gasoline, on the other hand, is predicted to witness a considerable CAGR from 2025 to 2032 amid North America’s vehicle-centric economy and the seasonal nature of consumption. According to EIA, the U.S. alone consumes over 8.9 Mn bpd of gasoline as of early 2025, making it the world’s most prominent gasoline market by a wide margin. This massive and fluctuating demand necessitates extensive storage capacity to balance refinery output with retail consumption patterns.

Country Insights

U.S. Oil Storage Market Trends

The oil storage scenario in the U.S. as of mid-2025 is defined by tight capacity, volatile inventories, and strategic shifts in storage management. Commercial crude inventories have dropped significantly, with current levels hovering around 436 Mn barrels, which is near the lower end of the five-year seasonal average, according to Reuters. This drop is attributed to rising refinery activity and limited builds during the first half of 2025. As per EIA, during the week ending May 30, 2025, U.S. crude stocks dropped by 4.3 Mn barrels, surpassing analysts' expectations as refinery utilization surged to over 93% ahead of the summer driving season.

Cushing, considered the delivery hub for West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures, has witnessed significant lows in inventory. Storage levels at Cushing fell below 20 Mn barrels in early 2025, raising concerns over the operational minimum required for smooth crude flows. Although minor injections have occurred intermittently, they have done little to ease structural tightness, leading to greater price sensitivity and volatility in benchmark pricing. At the same time, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is undergoing a gradual replenishment process after historic drawdowns from 2022 to 2023.

Canada Oil Storage Market Trends

By the end of 2024, Canada’s total petroleum stocks hovered around 190.9?Mn barrels, slightly up from October but still down 2.3% from a year earlier, revealed a new study. Monthly variability is relatively low, yet the downward trend highlights steady drawdowns with surging production and export flows. Infrastructure upgrades have had a significant impact. Trans Mountain’s expansion, which became operational in May 2024, nearly tripled capacity to about 890,000?bpd. This enabled oil from Alberta’s oil sands to more easily reach the West Coast for export. It has surged storage throughput rather than on?site stockpiling, allowing Canada to channel record crude exports.

In 2024, Canada’s crude exports hit an all time high of 240.4?megagram per cubic meter, a 5% year-over-year rise, with pipelines carrying approximately 89% of this volume. The country also supplied a record 4.0?Mn bpd to the U.S., accounting for about 60% of U.S. crude imports. Despite active throughput, Canada does not maintain a strategic petroleum reserve, unlike the U.S. Companies mainly rely on commercial tanks and salt cavern storage in Alberta, which in March 2020 held approximately 30 Mn bpd.

Competitive Landscape

The North America oil storage market houses a few leading companies controlling a significant portion of the region’s terminal and tankage infrastructure. They have set up hubs in the Permian Basin, the Gulf Coast, and Cushing to serve as key points for domestic crude flow as well as for export, arbitrage, and blending operations. Private equity-backed infrastructure funds and specialized storage operators have also intensified competition by investing in modular storage solutions. They are focusing on increasing their responsiveness to market volatility, specifically during periods of price inversion or supply-demand shocks.

Key Industry Developments

• In April 2025, the Department of Energy (DOE) awarded Strategic Storage Partners LLC a US$ 1.4 Bn contract for the management and operation of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve for an extendable five years. The federally owned oil stocks are stored in underground salt caverns at four sites in Louisiana and Texas.
• In January 2025, the Government of Alberta signed a letter of intent with Enbridge to form a working group with the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission (APMC). The group is anticipated to analyze future egress, storage, transport, and market access opportunities across more than 29,000 kilometers of the Enbridge network. It aims to move more Alberta oil and gas partners in the U.S. and Canada.

Companies Covered in North America Oil Storage Market

• CST Industries, Inc.
• Ascent Industries
• ERGIL
• Fisher Tank Company
• NOV Inc.
• LF Manufacturing
• Roth Industries GmbH & Co. KG
• Royal Vopak N.V.
• Snyder Industries
• Shawcor Ltd
• Superior Tank Co., Inc.
• Waterford Tank and Fabrication
• T BAILEY, LLC
• Others