ENHANCING PETROLEUM STORAGE TANK INTEGRITY IN SAUDI ARABIA UNDER VISION 2030: INTEGRATING API 653 INSPECTION, CORROSION RISK ASSESSMENT, AND RISK-BASED MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES

Petroleum storage tanks are indispensable buffers between Saudi Arabia's production, refining, distribution and export systems. Their apparently simple construction conceals interacting threats associated with floor pitting, shell thinning, settlement, deficient protective systems and accident escalation. This critical review evaluates how API 653 inspection can be combined with corrosion risk assessment and risk-based maintenance without confusing statutory or code requirements with predictive recommendations. Thirty DOI-identifiable studies published between 2020 and 2025 were synthesised by degradation mechanism, inspection capability, uncertainty treatment and maintenance implication. The evidence favours a layered strategy: establish a defensible mechanical-integrity baseline; characterise localised deterioration using complementary examinations; calculate remaining life with explicit uncertainty; and prioritise intervention according to failure likelihood, credible consequences and operational constraints. Reported advances in probabilistic pit modelling, acoustic emission, magnetic flux leakage, cathodic protection and image analytics offer useful decision support but do not replace qualified inspection or engineering judgement. A Saudi implementation framework is proposed that links assurance gates, auditable digital records and targeted interventions to environmental protection, operational continuity and domestic technical capability. The principal research gap is prospective validation across diverse tank services and climates, rather than further proliferation of isolated prediction models.