I have gasoline stored in a metal drum. The Drum is up on wooden horses. The drum is grounded with a heavy wire and connected to a copper rod into the ground. I assume a lightning strike nearby could enter the grounding rod and back feed into my drum. Will the drum explode? I haven't heard of this being an issue but it sounds potentially dangerous. What do you think?
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I don't know if you've ever seen a faraday cage lightning demonstration, but lightning will flow around any hollow metal object, not through it. Look at it from the lightning's perspective - would I rather flow through metal, or this oil stuff? Additionally, specific concentrations of gasoline in the air in the tank are needed for an actual explosion - only within concentrations of 1.4 to 7.6% by volume. Inside a mostly sealed tank, the concentration will be too high to ignite.
You should be more concerned with properly containing any spills, and regularly cleaning under the tank to prevent external fires igniting from more common causes, and I imagine guidelines are found in building or other codes.
IronEagle
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What would be the electrical potential to draw the electrical discharge from the ground up to the drum? For all intents and purposes I would probably consider the drum insulated because of the wood so there would be nothing to draw the discharge to the drum.
If the spike were to hit the building a large grounded surface may draw the discharge to the drum.
I would bet on hitting the lottery before the drum and lighting would interact.
