"Renting a tank" sounds simple until you try to write the contract. Who bears the risk of an empty tank? Who profits if throughput doubles? What happens when product overstays? Tank leasing is the set of commercial structures the storage industry has evolved to answer those questions. This guide walks through the four you will actually encounter.
1. Term lease: capacity as a reservation
Under a term lease, a customer contracts defined capacity — specific tanks or a volume entitlement — for a fixed period, typically six months to several years, paying whether or not the space is full. The customer buys certainty and control: the option to store at will across the tenor. The terminal receives predictable revenue and in exchange gives up the upside of re-letting that capacity.
Term is the natural structure for traders positioning around market structure, refiners securing buffer capacity, and anyone whose strategy depends on capacity being there on short notice.
2. Spot storage: one parcel, one window
Spot storage covers a single parcel for a short period, subject to availability. It is priced accordingly — the terminal is selling perishable space it might otherwise re-let. Spot suits cargo timing mismatches, distressed parcels and first transactions between counterparties who may later grow into term relationships.
3. Throughput agreement: paying for motion, not time
A throughput agreement prices the service per unit moved through the terminal — per cubic meter or ton received and redelivered — often with a minimum annual commitment. It fits programmatic, repetitive flows: a distributor moving product monthly, a refiner evacuating production. Risk shifts subtly: the customer commits to volume rather than time, and the terminal's revenue tracks activity.
4. Dedicated tankage: exclusivity by design
Where specification, branding or additive packages demand it, a customer contracts specific named tanks for exclusive use — no commingling, service changes only on the customer's instruction. This is common for jet fuel programs, branded fuels and proprietary blends.
Comparing the structures
| Structure | You pay for | Best when | Key risk you hold |
|---|---|---|---|
| Term lease | Capacity over time | Strategy needs guaranteed space | Paying for unused space |
| Spot | One parcel, short window | Timing mismatch, single cargo | Availability & price at the moment of need |
| Throughput | Volume moved | Programmatic repeat flows | Minimum-volume commitment |
| Dedicated | Named tanks, exclusivity | Spec/brand control is critical | Premium over shared capacity |
The clauses that matter more than the rate
- Measurement basis — whose figures govern, under what standard, with what surveyor rights.
- Loss allowance — the tolerance within which gains/losses are accepted, and the investigation duty beyond it.
- Berthing and scheduling priority — how your vessels and trucks rank when the terminal is busy.
- Holdover terms — the pre-agreed consequence of product remaining after expiry.
- Release protocol — who can instruct redelivery of your product, and how instructions are authenticated.
- Assignment — whether capacity can follow a sale of the underlying business or book.
A credible operator will discuss all six without discomfort. Treat reluctance on measurement or release protocols as a red flag — those clauses are where storage relationships succeed or fail.