The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline (petrol). Petroleum (oil) is also the raw material for many chemical products, including pharmaceuticals, solvents, fertilizers, pesticides, and plastics. The industry is usually divided into three major components: upstream, midstream and downstream. Midstream operations are usually included in the downstream category. Petroleum is vital to many industries, and is of importance to the maintenance of industrial civilization in its current configuration, and thus is a critical concern for many nations. Oil accounts for a large percentage of the world’s energy consumption, ranging from a low of 32% for Europe and Asia, to a high of 53% for the Middle East. Other geographic regions’ consumption patterns are as follows: South and Central America (44%), Africa (41%), and North America (40%). The world consumes 30 billion barrels of oil per year, with developed nations being the largest consumers. The United States consumes 25% of the oil produced. The production, distribution, refining, and retailing of petroleum taken as a whole represents the world’s largest industry in terms of dollar value. Governments such as the United States government provide a heavy public subsidy to petroleum companies, with major tax breaks at virtually every stage of oil exploration and extraction, including the costs of oil field leases and drilling equipment. The global oil storage industry has seen strong growth due to the increase in oil prices over the last decade. However, oil prices have witnessed a sharp dip due to the global economic crisis. The decline in profit margins due to decreasing oil prices and highly inflated asset values will affect future storage dynamics. The existing storage terminal operators are already experiencing a severe reduction in fresh investments in the market. Regional tax policies are also likely to affect any storage investments. Therefore, new entrants into the storage industry will face tough market conditions due to low profit margins. The rise in oil demand due to economic growth in South East Asia is likely to propel storage industry growth in the region. The lack of robust storage infrastructure in large oil consuming countries such as China is driving the oil storage industry in the region. China is one of the largest oil consumers in the world and in order to secure its future oil needs the country is increasing its crude oil storage capacity. China is building huge storage facilities to increase its oil reserve capacity and aims to set up reserves capable of meeting 90 to 100 days of domestic crude oil consumption. The value of the global oil and gas equipment and services market is deemed to be the revenues accrued by the manufacturers of equipment, including drilling rigs and equipment and providers of supplies and services to companies involved in the drilling, evaluation and completion of oil and gas wells. The global oil & gas equipment & services market has total revenues of $387.8bn, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.7%. The manufacturers of oil rigs and drilling equipment segment is the market’s most lucrative, with total revenue of $121.2bn, equivalent to 31.3% of the market’s overall value. The performance of the market is forecast to accelerate, with an anticipated CAGR of 9.2% for during the next five years, which is expected to drive the market to a value of $601.4bn.