DigitalGlobe also signed its first significant Global Basemap customer on the same day it launched the service. Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the world’s fourth largest crude oil producer and Mexico’s largest enterprise, signed an agreement with DigitalGlobe for cloud-based access to Global Basemap.

Pemex’s Geospatial Information System Manager Margarita Jordá Lozano said the company is one of the few oil businesses in the world to manage all facets of production, from exploration and extraction to refining, storage, distribution and sales.

   “Such complex operations require advanced data to support critical business decisions,” said Lozano. “Pemex operates nearly 60,000 kilometers of pipeline, seven refineries, 77 storage facilities and 15 gas processing plants throughout Mexico. Satellite imagery has become a vital source of information to help us quickly and accurately assess what is truly happening across all of these locations. Now, on demand access to constantly refreshed imagery will give us a ground truth basis on which to make our most integral business decisions.”

   DigitalGlobe Executive Vice President of Strategy John Oechsle said the service was developed and launched to close the gap between the time that an image is collected and processed and the time that a government or business can use it to make more informed decisions.

    “Our goal was to create a service from which customers can get the relevant imagery they need, where, when and how they need it. Continuous advances in our technology infrastructure in space and on the ground allow us to deliver highly accurate imagery as it becomes available, a benefit our customers not only appreciate, but increasingly demand,” Oechsle said.

   Financial details of the Pemex contract were not disclosed.