Illicit production, refining, and distribution of oil and products occurs even in well-established markets, such as Nigeria. While oil resources play a crucial part in conflict, geopolitics, and international affairs, the exploitation of oil, like other resources, often occurs where governance is unstable and transparency is absent. More broadly, remotely measuring the activity of extractive industries in conflict-affected areas without reliable administrative data can support a broad range of public policy and decisions and military operations. To this end, we use satellite multi-spectral imaging and ground-truth pre-war output data to effectively construct a real-time census of oil production in areas controlled by the ISIL terrorist group. This information, in turn, can inform both security and reconstruction strategies. Understanding the spatial and temporal variation in production can help determine the scale of operations, technical capacity, and revenue streams. A prominent manifestation of this phenomenon is how terrorist and insurgent organizations-including the Islamic State group, also known as ISIL/ISIS or Daesh-use oil as a revenue source. Despite this attention, the illicit production, refining, and trade of oil and derivative products occur all over the world and provide significant revenues outside of the oversight and regulation of governments. It also has established links to geopolitics, international relations, and security. As the world’s most traded commodity, oil production is typically well monitored and analyzed.
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