Vopak picks hydrogen over oil for growth strategy

Dutch commodity storage company expects hydrogen to become a globally traded commodity and wants to use its presence in global trading hubs to tap the growing market

Commodity storage company Vopak is allocating most of this year’s growth spending budget outside of the oil market, most notably on projects to store and distribute hydrogen, the company said today. The Netherlands-based firm, which still makes most of its revenue from storing oil and chemicals around the globe, is pursuing more than ten infrastructure projects and studies involving hydrogen or ammonia, it said. “We believe that hydrogen will ultimately develop into a global traded energy commodity in which Vopak’s infrastructure will play a crucial role to facilitate and balance global supply and demand,” said Eelco Hoekstra, Vopak’s chief executive. The global hydrogen market could be wort