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OilX – Providing fast, transparent data on the oil supply chain
The oil storage and shipping market is notoriously opaque. But that’s about to change, thanks to a new global oil market analytics platform based on Sentinel data, developed by UK start-up OilX with the support of ESA Space Solutions.
In September 2019, drones were used to attack the state-owned Saudi Aramco oil-processing facilities at Abqaiq and Khurais in eastern Saudi Arabia. The facilities were shut down for repairs, resulting in Saudi Arabia's oil production, which represents about 5% of global crude oil, being cut by half. When the financial markets re-opened, the price of crude oil registered its biggest ever increase due to uncertainty surrounding the disruption to supplies.
This was a key moment for OilX and its new Oil Trading Analytics Monitor (OTAM) platform, as the company was able to assist oil traders around the world with fast and detailed analysis of the balance of global oil demand and supply.
Revolutionising oil markets with up-to-date, accurate data
OilX’s OTAM platform is an oil market data analysis solution in the form of a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, which was an ESA Business Application Demonstration Project (part of ESA Space Solutions), supported by the UK Space Agency. The aim was to create more transparency in the oil storage and shipping market, which it does by providing a digital twin of the global oil supply chain, all the way from the oil fields to the tanker or pipeline, and on to where it lands and is transported to refineries.
Emily Gravestock, Head of Applications at the UK Space Agency, said: “The UK Space Agency is the leading investor in ESA’s Business Applications fund to support commercial projects which will grow the UK’s thriving space sector and the wider economy. Working with ESA and industry our combined knowledge and expertise is delivering exciting, sustainable projects such as OilX."
OTAM uses Sentinel Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and optical data to estimate variations in crude oil stocks by monitoring floating-roof tanks. In addition, it fuses Earth Observation (EO) data with automatic identification system (AIS) cargo vessel tracking data to plot the movement of oil supplies. Together, these help to monitor the complete oil supply chain and offer actionable insights to oil traders, in near real-time.
The attraction of a product like this for oil traders is gaining an edge through information. For many years, this came from their vast global network of contacts and assets. Today, remote sensing from satellites is enabling a transition from ‘boots on the ground’ to ‘eyes in the sky’, enabling tanker traffic, pipeline movements and the status of storage facilities to be monitored remotely.
However, data alone is not enough, as most investors lack the expertise to transform raw optical images and large databases into useful datasets. OTAM does exactly that for them.
Another issue is that the current system of collecting global oil inventories by national statistics and agencies lags by 1 to 2 months and is incomplete. This results in oil traders and analysts at oil majors, trading houses, banks and hedge funds being heavily dependent on historical data, leaving them struggling to assess oil supply–demand balances in a timely and accurate fashion. The inclusion of SAR satellite data significantly enhances the existing oil analytics process by offering near real-time measurements instead, leading to better and faster decision-making and more transparent markets.
Florian Thaler, CEO and Co-Founder of OilX said: “The attacks on the Saudi Arabian oil infrastructure required a quick and comprehensive analysis of the impact and duration of the disruption. Through the unique approach of OilX, supported by ESA Space Solutions and its Business Applications program, it allowed us to combine various remote sensing technologies and create a comprehensive Saudi Arabian oil supply demand balance. ESA played a key role in enabling and facilitating the OTAM project, which brings together domain experts from oil analytics OilX, SAR processing (Aresys) and shipping intelligence (Signal Ocean) to produce unparalleled insights for oil markets.”
Nick Appleyard, Head of Downstream Business Applications at ESA added: "Insights from space guide global industries, helping businesses to improve the speed, accuracy and efficiency of their decisions. At ESA we are always looking for businesses with innovative ways to put space to work. This project is a great example. It shows how satellite data can help financial markets to continuously and quickly adjust their pricing and risk as circumstances change. Now the company is ready to take this Space Solution to the market, and we wish them every success."
Solving the Saudi puzzle
Crucially, OilX had developed its OTAM product to be able to offer oil traders and analysts clear and timely insights into last September’s events in Saudi Arabia.
OilX used oil storage monitoring based on SAR and optical satellite data to detect changes in oil storage at key locations and tracked crude oil exports vessel by vessel using AIS data.
Thanks to the support provided by ESA Space Solutions, the OilX team already has paying clients and has added an extra data scientist to its team. In the future, OilX’s ultimate goal is to enable users to monitor the stock levels of oil storage tanks at tank level granularity worldwide.
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Denmark throttles up on space entrepreneurship with ESA
ESA’s latest Business Incubation Centre (BIC) was recently inaugurated in Denmark to welcome entrepreneurs with business ideas using smart technologies developed for Europe’s space programmes.
The new ESA BIC Denmark was opened on 4 March 2020 by Danish Minister of Higher Education and Science Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, ESA Director General Jan Wörner, Technical University of Denmark (DTU) President Anders Bjarklev, CEO at Industriens Fond Thomas Hoffman-Bang and ESA BIC Denmark Manager Sune Nordentoft Lauritsen.
“ESA BIC will empower Danish businesses and universities to bring more products based on space technologies and satellite data to market. Interdisciplinarity, knowledge transfer and data sharing are pivotal in order to solve the world’s climate crisis,” said Danish Minister Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen at the opening.
“Space technology – in particular satellites with their huge capacity for Earth data – can make a fundamental difference in the battle against climate change.”
ESA Director Jan Wörner welcomed this new “member of our Europe-wide initiative to spin off space technology to terrestrial sectors – spin-offs that build on innovations to explore space and offer smarter, better and more efficient solutions here on Earth to improve quality of life.”
“To support progress and growth across Europe, we make our knowledge and technology available to be used outside space. At our business incubation centres, entrepreneurs and start-ups are supported to create innovative solutions using satellite services and space technology.”
DTU President Anders Bjarklev emphasized the value of ESA BIC Denmark for both start-ups and existing companies: “With this new centre, we wish to strengthen and create even more start-ups related to space and thus strengthen our industry and create value and growth in Denmark.”
“We will also foster more corporate innovation and create even more technology transfer. Through collaborations between industry and our high-tech entrepreneurial ecosystems, we will see more commercialisation from space technologies.”
Forty new start-ups plus boosts for existing industry
ESA BIC Denmark is the 21st member of ESA’s pan-European network of Business Incubation Centres. It will offer entrepreneurs support at its three hubs in Aalborg, Aarhus and Kongens Lyngby, close to Copenhagen. Here, start-ups will be provided with a free-of-charge package of business coaching, technical support and cash incentives during an incubation period of up to 2 years, as well as office space and logistics support at favourable rates.
Over the coming 5 years, ESA BIC Denmark will foster 40 start-ups turning space tech and satellite data into innovate business solutions improving life on Earth, as well as introducing novel space solutions based on the re-use of leading-edge technologies from other sectors. This will result in 400 new jobs and an increase in turnover in space-related technologies of more than €20 million.
Existing Danish companies will also benefit from the new centre, through initiatives to increase the re-use of space technologies and patents from ESA programmes and the use of satellite data. They will also profit from matchmaking with over 800 existing start-ups from other ESA BICs and over 500 ESA Business Applications projects.
Having been jump-started last year, ESA BIC Denmark is already working with several Danish companies to take advantage of space technology transfer opportunities.
ESA BIC Denmark will contribute significantly to growing clusters of space-based companies in Denmark, driving cross-fertilization from ESA space-related companies to Danish non-space companies and facilitating space technology transfer from ESA to existing companies, as well as the use of satellite services.
Start-ups demonstrate innovation
At the opening event, entrepreneurs from five potential Danish ESA BIC start-ups presented innovative solutions, including: national level optimisation of wind turbines; smart data connections for Earth’s most remote locations; an origami-designed moon habitat that is soon to be tested in Greenland; custom-analysed cloud-based satellite maps; an intelligent cane for blind people; and innovative ship-to-ship communications.
Fourth State Systems, a start-up from ESA BIC Sweden, also showcased its space spin-off potential at the launch with a development for the medical sector. It applies a technology for planetary exploration to transcutaneous blood gas monitoring, where carbon dioxide and oxygen levels in blood and tissue are measured through the skin. This type of analysis is very important in many branches of medicine and vital for modern neonatal care.
ESA Business Incubation Centres
With ESA BIC Denmark, the pan-European network of ESA Business Incubation Centres operated under ESA Space Solutions has now grown to 21 in 18 European countries: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and UK. Together they form the largest ecosystem in the world for space-related entrepreneurship. Over 800 new start-ups have been fostered and another 180 are taken in annually at the network’s 65+ business incubation sites.
ESA Space Solutions
Since the early 2000s, ESA Space Solutions has sought entrepreneurs with innovative ideas using space technologies and data in a non-space environment. Initiated as support to Europe’s space programmes, these technological innovations have resulted in many successful solutions for terrestrial markets.
The transfers from space to Earth enhance the know-how and competitiveness of Europe by creating new start-up companies and leading to new jobs and growth. The programme provides multiple entry points, including: ESA BICs, where entrepreneurs can further develop their business plans and grow their new ventures; the ESA Business Applications programme that supports businesses from ideation to pre-commercialisation; and ESA Technology Brokers, which provide solutions to the industry through access to a wide range of advanced technologies developed by the space industry.
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