Question: Where in Texas is the world’s largest oil storage facility?
Answer: Brazoria County. Part of the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Preserve, the Bryan Mound salt dome has the capacity to store 247.1 million barrels of sweet and sour crude in 19 underground caverns that are roughly 200 feet wide and 2,500 feet tall. The site was acquired by the U.S. Department of Energy acquired in April 1977, and it became operational in 1986.
Oil is withdrawn by pumping high-pressure water into the caverns, but doing so dissolves some of the underground salt. The caverns can be drained and refilled about five times before they become structurally unsound. Currently, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve contains about 400 million barrels of oil, while its total capacity is more than 700 million barrels.
