Source: KARI/ESAA digital oil analytics company is enabling oil producers, traders and governments around the world to make oil production decisions based on oil supplies in near real time.

Oilx enables a near real-time analysis of global oil supplies using satellite data from the European Space Agency. To measure oil supplies, the observation satellites rely on optical cameras to locate storage tanks where crude oil from underground reservoirs are held.

Outfitted with lids that float on the surface of oil to prevent loss via evaporation and to reduce the escape of toxic and flammable gases, the cylindrical tanks’ diameters can be measured by the satellites using synthetic aperture radar tools. These instruments can measure changes in the lids’ heights, which is an indication of oil flow volume into and out of the facilities.

Such a tool is proving useful as demand for oil has decreased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, thereby halting oil production.