The document summarizes US crude oil storage capacity and levels as of April 17, 2020. It notes that storage is concentrated around oil refineries, with negligible storage in pipelines and some in ships and at end users. As of April 17, total US storage capacity was 1.17 billion barrels, with the Strategic Petroleum Reserve providing an additional safety net of 727 million barrels. While the overall rate of storage builds had slowed, builds were not evenly distributed and were still occurring more rapidly in the Gulf Coast, Permian Basin, and Eagle Ford areas which have limited remaining capacity.

1. US Crude Oil
Storage Capacity:
EIA of April 17, 2020
April 23, 2019

2. Crude storage concentrated around refining
(negligible storage
in pipelines)
(some storage in ships
and end users*)
* not including storage of other products or other downstream locations
(millions of bbls) Max %
Lease (US Total) 34 3%
Storage - Crude 549 47%
Storage - Products* 587 50%
Total 1,171

3. Shut-ins are already slowing pace of storage build
Average build
previous 3 weeks
23.7 mmbbl
LOWER build in
week ending 4/17:
16.0 mmbbl
But the build is not evenly
distributed across regions

4. Gulf Coast shut-ins are lagging
rate of build declined
more than half:
Mid West
Rockies
Bakken
SCOOP/STACK
Niobrara
little decline: Gulf Coast Permian
Eagle Ford
Storage build in East Coast and West Coast driven by gasoline builds.
Rate of build has slowed near zero.

5. SPR offers safety net
Connected
closely:
Permian
Eagle Ford
SCOOP/STACK
Niobrara
Current
capacity:
91.6 mmbbl
Maximum
weekly changes:
+2.1 mmbbl
-5.9 mmbbl

6. Weeks of Storage
(millions of bbls, as of 4/17 unless noted) Max** 4/17
Current
headroom
Wide
open
Most
recent
Lease (US Total) 34 n/a n/a
Storage - Crude 549 519 31
Storage - Products* 587 553 34
Weekly Storage Build Rate (4/03, 4/10) 16.0
Operational sub-total 1,171 1,071 65 2.3 4.1
SPR 727 635 92 3.2 5.7
Gulf Coast crude storage 281 273 8
(PADD 3) product storage 201 183 18
build rate (4/10 only) 11.1 1.8 2.3
Mid West crude storage 161 152 9
(PADD 2, product storage 132 123 9
incl Cushing) build rate 3.1 2.4 5.8
Rockies crude storage 26 25 1
(PADD 4) product storage 20 19 1
build rate 0.3 2.1 7.2
West Coast crude storage 61 57 4
(PADD 5) product storage 74 73 1
build rate (0.8) 2.1 -
East Coast crude storage 20 12 9
(PADD 1) product storage 160 155 5
build rate 2.3 4.8 6.0
*refined product storage assumed to be 42/20 x gasoline storage
**maximum demonstrated in recent history, actual capacity is likely slightly higher
Texas and New Mexico have ~ 2 weeks of storage
Average excess storage ~16%
Current excess storage ~ 6%
Strategic Petroleum Reserve remains
essential, increases storage capacity 2.5x
Please note that these calculations assume to storage capacity
above the maximum demonstrated in recent history and that
the storage for all refined products is 42/20 of gasoline storage.
Texas and New Mexico have very little
running room (Permian, Eagle Ford)
Midwest & Rockies have more running room
(Bakken, SCOOP/STACK, Niobrara)

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9. Storage system backs up from the end user
(negligible storage
in pipelines)
(some storage in ships
and end users*)
* not including storage of other products or other downstream locations
** days of “field production” as defined by EIA

10. Crude storage concentrated around refining
(negligible storage
in pipelines)
(some storage in ships
and end users*)
* not including storage of other products or other downstream locations
Lease storage is minor
Gasoline storage was already near seasonal high

11. Gulf Coast shut-ins are lagging
declined more
than half:
Mid West
Rockies
little decline: Gulf Coast
storage spike
driven by crude
Gulf Coast
Mid West
Rockies

17. storage (3)
Filter Settings
Storage data, Apr 22 2020 - stocks
- Date - Week: (1/1/2012 <= Date - Week <= 4/17/2020)
- Area: (East Coast (PADD 1), Gulf Coast (PADD 3), Midwest (PADD 2), Rocky Mountains (PADD 4), West Cost (PADD 5))

18. Ending Stock of Crude – Date - Week

25. Storage system for oil
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