An oil terminal (also called tank farm, oil facility or petroleum depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of crude oil and petrochemical products, and from which these and their derivatives are transported to end users or other storage facilities.[1] An oil terminal typically has a variety of tanks above or below ground; facilities for transfer between tanks; pumping facilities; loading gantries for filling tankers or barges; ship loading/unloading equipment at maritime terminals; and pipe connections.[1]​.

Oil terminals may be located near oil refineries or be part of them; or be located in coastal locations where tankers can unload or load their cargo.[2] Some terminals are connected to pipelines from which they extract or unload their products. The terminals can also be served by rail, barges and tankers. They may also be located in peri-urban areas, from where tanker trucks transport products to gas stations or other domestic, commercial or industrial users.[2]​.

In most oil terminals there is no processing or other transformation of products on site. A refinery's products that are stored at the terminal are already in their final form, suitable for delivery to customers.[1] Product blends can be made and additives "Additive (fuel)") can be injected into the products, but there is generally no manufacturing plant on site. Modern terminals have a high degree of site automation.[3]​.

Oil terminals located on the coast have jetties to provide deep water mooring for tankers. Jetties have loading/unloading arms to transfer cargo to/from ship to shore. Vapor recovery facilities may be provided.[4]​.

Some oil terminals receive crude oil production from offshore facilities.[5]​ Crude oil received by the pipeline may have been "enriched" with natural gas liquids, in which case it is known as light crude oil.[6]​ Such oil must be processed or stabilized to remove lighter fractions, such as ethane, propane and butane, to produce a dead or stabilized crude oil that is suitable for storage and transportation.[7]​ Such oil terminals may include facilities processing facilities to treat the oil to achieve a Reid vapor pressure of 10 to 12 psi (70 to 82 kPa).[8] Processing facilities include heaters to raise the temperature of the oil, which is then directed to separator vessels.[5] In these, the lighter fractions are subsequently evaporated and processed to separate them into their individual components. The now stabilized oil can be stored and then sold or shipped for further processing.[5]​[8]​.