I want to ask everyone a few things about oil and the storage of it. Here goes...
First, I've heard and read that lots of it is being stored offshore in supertankers and onshore in other types of tanks such as those in Cushing, OK (take a look at Cushing using Google maps for some pretty impressive pics). I've also heard that worldwide countries are pretty much out of storage capacity, yet there is more capacity here in the U.S. Here are some questions...
1. I know that if I put gasoline in the tank of my lawn mower and let it sit without some kind of fuel stabilizer, it will turn to turpentine and be useless. Is there some kind of additive or stabilizer that needs to be mixed in with the oil to enable long-term storage?
2. Is long-term storage different in cold places like Canada vs. a place like Houston where it doesn't get below freezing that often? If so, do you have any comments on how much this might cost per barrel?
3. I spoke with someone yesterday who seemed to know quite a bit about the tanker business and he said the going daily rate for a large tanker now is $104,000 per day! How much per barrel this would add per year to the cost of a barrel of oil stored on said tanker?
4. Does anyone know of any companies engaged in building storage tanks for the oil industry?
Are there any other points or relevant comments or websites that you can share? Even if I was considered to be a so-called expert in precious metals, I figure it would be good to also know more than I do about oil since many people lump them both into the Basic Materials sector. I await your thoughts and comments.