There is no upper limit to the amount of diesel and heating oil that you as an individual can store at home, but regulations require you to exercise care. Here are the details of what this means in practice.
There is no upper limit to the amount of diesel and heating oil that you as an individual are allowed to store at home. However, companies and individuals who intend to store diesel and heating oil are subject to the requirement to exercise care (section 5 in the regulations on handling hazardous chemicals). It is worth noting that the regulations apply differently to individuals and companies. Agricultural properties, where diesel is often stored, are considered to be companies.
In practice, the requirement for you as an individual to exercise care means that you must think about where and how you store diesel, in order to prevent fires and other accidents.
Diesel and heating oil may be stored outdoors, indoors or in an outhouse. Petrol is considered to be extremely flammable and is subject to stricter restrictions. Diesel is not as flammable as petrol, but you should still always do your utmost to prevent fires when you store diesel.
The container or tank that you use must be suitable for the storage of diesel or heating oil. Make sure the storage site is uncluttered, and do not keep unnecessary flammable material nearby. You should also have extinguishing equipment easily accessible.
If you intend to store diesel and heating oil outdoors, you should make sure there is a gap of at least 5 metres between this and timber walls or other flammable material. You should also keep barbecues, bonfires and other potential sources of ignition at least 5 metres away from the diesel tank.
As an individual, you may transport a maximum of 240 litres of diesel by car, or in a combination of car and trailer. You do not need to count any diesel in the car’s own fuel tank. Individual containers may not contain more than 60 litres. Make sure that the vehicle and containers are in good condition, and exercise suitable care during transportation.
On the subject of diesel and heating oil, many Norwegian homes are still heated by central heating systems that run on heating oil. The Norwegian government wants to phase out the use of oil-fired boilers in households by 2020.