Safety of Salt Caverns Used for Underground Storage Blow Out; Mechanical Instability; Seepage; Cavern Abandonment

Thousands of salt caverns (100 in France alone) are being used to store hydrocarbons. This is the safest way to store large quantities of hydrocarbons: salt formations are almost perfectly impermeable, and fire or explosion is impossible underground. However, a small number of accidents (blow-out, product seepage, cavern instability) have occurred in the past. Cavern abandonment is also a concern in some cases. This paper describes several accidents and the lessons that have been drawn from them, leading to considerable improvements in storage design and operation.