Oil & Gas Storage

Oil & Gas

50 years of expertise in underground storage at the Etzel cavern storage facility

STORAG ETZEL GmbH is the largest independent supplier of cavern storage facilities in Germany, making a valuable contribution to energy security and gas grid stability in Germany and northwestern Europe.

At the Etzel site in East Frisia, the company has been building, maintaining and leasing large-volume underground storage capacity for oil and gas since 1971. Since 2007, the Etzel cavern facility has developed into one of the largest oil and gas storage sites in Europe. The Etzel site in integrated in the international pipeline network for both oil and gas and serves as an important energy hub in northwestern Germany.

Tenants of the caverns are well-known energy trading companies as well as oil stockholding organizations of various European countries. Among other things, part of the German crude oil reserve is stored in Etzel.

24 caverns for oil storage

STORAG ETZEL is one of the largest crude oil storage facilities in Europe, with a storage volume of more than 10 million cubic meters spread over 24 caverns. The Etzel site is connected to the tank farm of the Nord-West-Ölleitungsgesellschaft (NWO) in Wilhelmshaven. From there, the crude oil can be sent for processing either via pipelines or ocean-going vessels. The volume of oil stored underground in an environmentally friendly manner at Etzel would require around 100 tanks on an area of 8 km² in a conventional tank farm above ground.

51 Caverns for gas storage

The operation of the gas caverns in Etzel requires special and state-of-the-art gas operating facilities that fall directly under the responsibility of the gas tenants. Currently, four operator consortia have long-term commitments to the Etzel site.

The gas infrastructure at the site is excellently connected to a total of 4 supra-regional pipelines, the NETRA (entry and exit intermediate station), Emden-Etzel pipeline as well as the Bunde-Etzel pipeline (BEP). The BEP was most recently completed in 2011, connecting the cavern facility over 60 km to the gas pipeline hub in Bunde/Oude Statenzijl and connecting Etzel to the Dutch gas network. By the end of 2022, another pipeline (WAL) will be built in the direction of Wilhelmshaven.

Storage marketing

Oil & Gas

Karsten Peter
Tel: +49 (0)4465-809-215

Arne Oellermann
Tel: +49 (0)4465-809-132

Customer Contracts

Available storage space

From mid-2022, STORAG ETZEL will have around 5 million m³ of free capacity for the medium- and long-term storage of oil. In addition, the inventory can be expanded by another 24 caverns - e.g. for natural gas or hydrogen. For further information and a non-binding offer, please contact us via our e-mail address:

Customer Contracts

Advantages of oil storage in caverns

In the Etzel salt dome, we operate 24 caverns for the storage of oil. Due to the large available cavity volume and the low operating costs compared to aboveground tank storage, caverns are excellently suited for the long-term storage of crude oil.

Therefore, caverns are particularly used for the storage of the legal crisis stockpile requirement of some European countries. The facility is connected via a 44" long-distance pipeline (110 cm) to the NWO oil port in Wilhelmshaven, which is about 25 km away from Etzel.

What we are proud of:

STORAG ETZEL GmbH is the largest independent provider of underground cavern storage facilities in northwestern Europe. By operating the facilities, we make a significant contribution to energy security and gas grid stability in Germany and Europe.

Where we're at:

At the Etzel site in East Frisia, we have been building, operating and leasing caverns for the large-volume storage of natural gas and crude oil since 1971. The cavern facility is an important energy hub in northwestern Germany near Wilhelmshaven with pipeline connections to the deepwater port there.

Our customers:

Tenants of the caverns are well-known gas trading companies as well as oil stockholding organizations of various European countries and international oil traders.

Your opportunities:

As of mid-2022, STORAG ETZEL has approx. 5 million m³ of free capacity for medium- and long-term oil storage for lease. We offer attractive commercial conditions to our customers. Our storage facility has a high flexibility in terms of storage volume and handling.

Ready for the future

The Etzel site is ready for the future: In addition to storing fossil fuels such as oil and natural gas, renewable energies can also be stored in caverns, e.g. by converting surplus electricity into hydrogen (H2) or synthetic natural gas (SNG = methane).

The operator STORAG ETZEL has already successfully converted oil caverns to gas storage in its operating history. In the context of the energy transition and decarbonization, the conversion of underground storage facilities from gas / oil to hydrogen is currently being investigated in the "H2CAST Etzel" project.

More about hydrogen storage

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50 years of successful oil and gas storage at Etzel – The cavern site is ready for future challenges!
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Download STE-Festschrift_light_e_web.pdf

50 years of supply security
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Etzel Cavern Storage
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Security of Supply with Natural Gas and Oil
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Caverns animation

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Oil & Gas Storage

Oil & Gas