according to the company's ceo, chris hilgert, demand for the storage space has been brisk. >> we're leasing the capacity right now on the marketplace. it's being received very favorably. we have a competitive cost advantage that we're trying to exploit as much as we can and offer a much-needed service here. >> reporter: it's one of several high-profile projects under development in the region at a time when, because the world is awash in oil, storage has been filling up. u.s. commercial crude inventories are above 489 million barrels, the highest for this time of year in eight decades, meaning two-thirds of all u.s. oil storage is in use. over half of that, 250 million barrels, is sitting on the gulf coast, which hit a record high a few weeks ago. tanks in cushing, oklahoma, are again filling up as well. energy companies and oil traders are storing oil rather than selling it because the futures market is valuing crude at higher prices than the spot market. experts say all this inventory is a bearish indicator for prices heading into 2016. >> the problem is, as you build all of this