Tracking the oil industry is not always an easy business, as many producers and consumers do not provide regular or reliable data on their activities. However, some commodities traders and industry analysts are finding ways to use satellite data – much of it collected from low-cost, small-sized units launched into orbit by private-sector operators – to fill in the gaps.
According to a MarketWatch report, satellites can be used to gather information on infrastructures, such as storage facilities and tankers. In turn, technology companies and consultancies can use tools such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to use raw information from these facilities as the basis for new insights.
This approach was much in evidence following the September 14 aerial attacks on the Khurais oil field and Abqaiq processing facility in Saudi Arabia, MarketWatch stated. It explained that satellite data had helped observers make better guesses about how much oil Riyadh withdrew from its stocks in the immediate aftermath of the attack – and how quickly it replenished its inventories later.
“Some governments are more transparent and better at disclosure, and some are not,” commented Joe McMonigle, a senior energy policy analyst at Hedgeye Research. “So you really need this alternative data to have some kind of transparency or insights into what actually is [happening] on the ground.”