World's First Enterprise-Grade Blockchain Platform For Energy Commodities Goes Live

A new blockchain platform for energy commodities trading has been launched by Vakt Global. The consortium set up by major players such as Shell and BP announced the platform's debut via Twitter.

“Our 5 investors within the BFOET market have now gone live on the VAKT platform!” the tweet reads. The BFOET market includes five North Sea crude oil fields – Brent, Forties, Oseberg, Ekofisk, and Troll. The company plans to expand to other markets next year.”

Today is a BIG day for VAKT! Our 5 investors within the BFOET market have now gone live on the VAKT platform! Time for a quick update from the CEO! First enterprise grade blockchain solution within the oil & gas market! @Level39CW #commodities #blockchain pic.twitter.com/cvoF7F1egF

— Vakt Global (@VaktGlobal) November 28, 2018

First Enterprise-grade platform of its kind

The platform claims to be the “first enterprise grade” blockchain solution within the oil and gas market.

The platform should help trading companies replace paper-based documentation with smart contracts making the whole trading process more automated and efficient.

The platforms creator's hope that this will lead to a reduction no overall costs as well as reduce errors.

John Jimenez, Interim CEO of VAKT, commented, “We’ve been overwhelmed by the strength of response to the VAKT concept. Launching into our first market with such high-calibre first users is a transformational moment for us and the industry.

But it’s just the start: success for a blockchain solution depends on widespread adoption and we’re looking forward to seeing the ecosystem grow.”

VAKT says it delivered on budget and on time

VAKT Global boasted that the “first line of code was only written in May this year”, adding that it worked with partners Deloitte and IT firm ThoughtWorks, to deliver the project “on time and to budget.”

The consortium is made up of Shell, BP, Norwegian energy firm Equinor, trading houses such as Gunvor, Koch Supply & Trading and Mercuria, and banks including ABN Amro, ING and Societe Generale.

The venture says it aims to “lead the migration of all forms of energy transaction data to the blockchain, improving data quality, further strengthening security and increasing the speed of settlements industry-wide, while reducing the cost for industry participants.”

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Eren Zekioglu, Chief Operations & IT Officer, Gunvor, commented: “To be great, a trading company needs two things: good technology and speed. By radically streamlining post-trade processes, VAKT offers both.

This is a big step for the physical energy trading markets and I see VAKT becoming the industry-standard.”

The VAKT consortium was only formed last year. 

They describe the group on their website saying, "VAKT is an independent company created and backed by some of the world’s premiere energy majors, commodity traders, and banks.

Of these, BP, Equinor, Shell, Gunvor and Mercuria have launched privately as VAKT’s first users, running in parallel with their internal systems, with the platform set to open to the wider market in January."