Inside Vopak USA & Canada’s evolving energy portfolio and future-focused strategy
With 77 terminals across 23 countries comprising 35.42 million cubic meters in storage, Vopak is a global independent tank storage company providing safe, reliable, and efficient infrastructure solutions for bulk liquids and sustainable products. For more than four centuries, Vopak has built strong relationships with customers and communities, and as the energy transition evolves around the globe, the company is committed to advancing partnerships, technologies, and solutions for new energies.
When we last spoke with Maria Ciliberti, president of Vopak USA & Canada Business Unit, just over one year ago, she shared details about the company’s latest developments, including progress at the Ridley Island Energy Export Facility (REEF) in Canada, sustainability developments, and ongoing investments in its ‘improve, grow, accelerate’ strategy. As 2025 marked Vopak’s 50th anniversary in the United States, we sit down with Maria for an update on the company’s operations and milestone celebrations.
Safety as a priority
“Reflecting on Vopak’s journey in the US, it’s apparent that our success is down to our people; in the words of Woody Hayes, ‘you win with people,’ and that’s certainly the case for Vopak,” Maria begins. “When I say ‘people,’ I define them in two categories – our employees and our customers. Firstly, our employees take on very difficult and often hazardous work with a conscientious and safety-driven mindset, which enables us to deliver safe, reliable service to our customers. Secondly, we’re fortunate to have positive, longstanding, and trusted relationships with our customers. In fact, we have customers at our Deer Park, Texas terminal that have been with us since we began operations in 1975. There are so many people and authorities we’ve collaborated with over the years, and I’d like to thank all those people that have been key to our success.”
While people are at the heart of Vopak’s US growth, the company’s long-term success is also driven by its impressive approach to investment. “We invest in the business on two fronts: sustaining CapEx and growth CapEx,” Maria says. “Sustaining CapEx means maintaining and upgrading our existing assets. We’re engaged in a multi-year project at Deer Park, for instance, to replace the terminal’s bulkhead, which blocks water from the Houston Ship Channel from getting into the terminal itself. We’re replacing a 50-year-old bulkhead in multiple phases, and we’ve already completed two important steps.
“In terms of growth CapEx, we’ve not only added three new tanks at Deer Park, but we’ve also retrofitted two tanks with heating and insulation to add extra volume to this site. We’ve also got some cool projects ongoing at our VIIA Freeport terminal, where we’ve invested in additional storage for our client.
“However, while growth is our passion, safety is always our priority,” she states. “For us, safety isn’t just about numbers, and our strategy aims to touch the hearts and minds of our people. Alongside our safety culture assessments and observations, we operate a ‘why we work safe’ campaign, where we ask employees to bring in photos of their families and friends and we display them as you walk into our terminals and offices. This is a physical reminder of how important it is to work safe and return home each day to the people we love.”
New storage project
Alongside these investments, we’re keen to ask Maria for an update on REEF, a large-scale liquefied petroleum gas and bulk liquids terminal with rail, logistics, and marine infrastructure on Ridley Island, British Columbia, Canada. “REEF is an exciting, yet challenging project,” Maria says. “Its location is not the easiest in which to work in terms of terrain and weather conditions. For instance, even the civil works were complicated, as we had to excavate 800,000 cubic meters of bedrock, which is equivalent to the volume of 320 Olympic-sized swimming pools. We’re also building a 1.2-kilometer-long jetty, as well as the more standard parts of a facility like the accumulators, where the propane and butane will eventually be stored.
“When we first set out on this project with our joint venture partner, AltaGas, the initial investment was 98,000 cubic meters of storage for propane and butane. However, with growing demand in Asian markets due to the sailing time advantage, we’ve already made the decision to expand the site’s capacity by 4700 cubic meters. This is a phenomenal project, and we expect the site to be operational by 2027.”
For the first time in its history, Vopak USA & Canada is also entering the market of storing electricity. “We’ve embarked on this new storage project, Vopak Energy Storage Texas (VEST), with joint venture partner, Sable Power & Gas,” Maria confirms. “The first phase is a five-megawatt battery storage unit and is already in commission, and the second phase is a larger, ten-megawatt battery storage unit. With energy demand rapidly increasing in Texas, this is a crucial project for the area, and by partnering with Sable, our intention is to learn about the storage market and test our success in this space before exploring additional storage opportunities.”
Vopak USA & Canada is not only shifting its strategic priorities to align with global energy transition goals, but this approach is also mirrored in its internal operations. “We have a goal to be Net Zero by 2050, with an intermittent target to reduce our emissions by 30 percent by 2030,” Maria explains. “These targets must also account for our growth, so we must offset the emissions of all the additional tanks we’re installing. We’ve already implemented several initiatives, such as converting from fossil fuel powered to electrification and purchasing renewable power where possible. For some of our newer projects, we’re embedding sustainability from the very beginning by designing them to be carbon neutral.
“In California, where we have two terminals, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has put a directive in place that means the exhaust emissions from vessels coming into the Port of Los Angeles must be captured and treated,” she adds. “Vopak has invested in innovative technology that enables us to provide this service to our customers.
“Our priority for 2026 is to deliver on three promises: continue to operate a safe and reliable service for our customers, deliver our plan for continued investments, and work towards our 2X30 growth plan to double our business in the US and Canada by 2030,” Maria says. “Our 2X30 strategy is centered around our goal to ‘improve, grow, and accelerate’, and the improvement pillar could mean anything from safety performance or sustainability to our personnel. The growth aspect focuses on different areas of growth, one of which is to target industrial terminal logistics (ITL), which means we’re pipeline-connected to our clients. We’re already connected to more than ten clients in our Deer Park terminal, and being pipeline connected typically leads to stronger and longer relationships with our clients, bringing us more long-term stability.
“When we first outlined our strategy, globally, Vopak committed to investing €1 billion in our growth by 2030, but we’ve now doubled this figure to €2 billion by 2030,” Maria concludes. “Our last pillar, ‘accelerate,’ is all about clean, low-carbon fuels, and we are globally committed to invest up to €1 billion in clean energy if the right opportunities arise.”
With strong foundations, a people-driven culture, and continued investments, Vopak USA & Canada is building a future that leverages its success while embracing new opportunities. Maria’s passion and enthusiasm clearly shine through in our conversation, and her leadership continues to position the company at the forefront of the rapidly evolving tank storage industry.