October 17, 2026 · Indumor
“As far as the government is concerned, an unregistered tank does not exist… until the day it leaks.” Any auditor with years in the trade says it one way or another. And they are right: fuel storage rules in Argentina are not one regulation but several, each covering a different part of the problem — something foreign mining and energy companies setting up operations here quickly discover.
The newest is Energy Secretariat Resolution 277/2025, in force since June 2025. It created the National Registry of Aboveground Hydrocarbon Storage Tanks (TAAH) and repealed the old leak-control program of Resolution 785/2005. It covers oil companies, distributors, power generators, mining concessions, companies with their own fleets and anyone above its thresholds: a single tank of 50 m³ or more, or a site totaling 100 m³ — in which case every tank from 5 m³ up must be registered. One 52,000-liter tank is enough to put you in. Registration is due within 30 business days of start-up.
For vertical tanks of 50 m³ or more, the resolution requires an inspection and repair plan under API 653, supervised by a certified inspector. For horizontal and smaller tanks, the operator must guarantee integrity according to the original design specifications — so keep the drawings, design calculations and test records the tank was built with. Incidents must be reported within 24 hours.
If the fuel is for own use with a dispenser — a farm, a fleet, a job site — the installation also registers under Resolution 1102/2004 as an own-use dispensing point. If the tank is buried (10% of its volume below grade is enough), Resolution 404/94 applies, with tightness tests every five, three or two years depending on tank age. And above all of it stands Decree 10,877/60, regulating Law 13,660, which sets very concrete requirements such as the containment dike — tank volume plus 10% — and the spacing between tanks. Provinces and municipalities may add their own.
One more development for anyone dispensing fuel: Decree 46/2025 allowed aboveground tanks at service stations as well as mobile stations, and Resolution 504/2025 set the conditions. A modular station uses a double-wall steel tank designed to UL 2085 or equivalent — the so-called protected tank, built to withstand fire and projectiles — with leak detection and a 40 m³ maximum.
When Indumor builds your tank, it ships with its technical file: drawings, materials, welding procedures and test records — exactly what you will be asked for. And if you already have tanks installed, send us their capacities and installation type: we will tell you, free of charge, which registry applies and which tank documents you should hold. For design details, see API 650 and our fuel storage tanks.
We help you check, and we build the tank’s technical file.
© Indumor 2010–2026 — Industrial steel fabrication, Córdoba, Argentina
