Which future for oil logistics in Europe?

The context of reduction of the European consumption of oil products will impact the whole upstream oil sector, notably with the shutting down of refining, storage and distribution capacities. This study aims at discussing changes which can be noticed on the European oil midstream, at understanding dynamics, and at questioning actor strategies regarding the specific value of storage assets. The authors show that the decrease of oil product consumption in Europe is paradoxically associated with a relative stability of storage demand and with an increase of their use rate. They outline that this midstream attracts new investors, notably traders and pure players who display interesting economic performance. This performance can be explained by an evolution of the barrel price which is historically favourable, and by a restructuring of the European market. They notice that new entrants have been able to generate some value pocket, and that the increasing power of independents will keep on within the European oil storage, with a possible trend of regional concentration