Floating oil storage drums. Photo: Flickr, Steve Jurvetson.

Ursa Space Systems has announced its planned expansion to provide global oil inventory coverage. Building on its China Oil Storage Report, Ursa will deliver Global Oil Storage Reports on a region-by-region basis, starting with the Caribbean, Middle East/North Africa (MENA), and Europe, which are coming online in the coming months.

Ursa’s Oil Storage reports use satellite imagery to provide weekly time series of oil stocks down to the tank level for a majority of the inventories on a regional basis. These measurements can be used as an anchor in calculating an “oil balance sheet” or as an input to models that predict prices of a wide range of commodities and other financial instruments. In addition to empirical measurements, Ursa provides contextual information such as tank owner and storage type.

Companies such as Blacklight Research use the service as the basis of their commodity research. “Energy trading is continually revolutionized by the emergence of technologies that bring new sources of knowledge and efficiency,” said Blacklight Research Managing Partner Colin Fenton. “Our access to Ursa’s data has been a key edge for Blacklight in anticipating shifts in oil market fundamentals and prices so accurately in 2017.”