VAKT Automation adoption industry analysis

An independent look at automation in oil trading

Where does your operation really stand?

VAKT is running an independent look at automation across physical oil trading. Find out how much of your operations are automated today, and how that compares with key players in the industry.

Find out where you stand
Share of each stage automatedIndustry benchmark
0%25%50%75%100%
Deal capture
Confirmation
Invoice
Settlement
Reconciliation
Full range Middle 50% Median Best in class Illustrative data

AI is finally closing the automation gap.

Oil trading has been behind on automation for years. Find out exactly how much of your process is manual today, and how that compares with the rest of the industry.

Early signals from conversations with operators across the industry

30–60 steps

to turn a single trade into cash, start to finish.

5 teams, 3+ systems

involved in getting a single trade done.

10 switches, 5 emails

just to resolve a single discrepancy.

See what great looks like, before everyone else does.

VAKT is backed by Shell and TOTSA, and sits inside the operations of many more across the industry. We’re using our unique position to show what’s possible and help the industry move automation forward.

Best-in-class workflowDeal to reconciliation
  1. Deal captureAuto
  2. ConfirmationAuto
  3. InvoiceAuto
  4. SettlementAuto
  5. ReconciliationAuto
Trade executedStraight-through

Why this research matters

Physical trading operations remain fragmented, and the industry is looking for automation

Industry research points to persistent complexity across energy and commodity workflows. This benchmark is designed to measure what that looks like in physical oil trading.

Capco, 2024
10×

Systems can hold the same trade

Capco found that trades can exist in up to five systems within mid-sized energy firms, rising to as many as ten systems in multinational energy companies.

Energy-trading finding, not an oil-only statistic.
Commodity Technology Advisory, 2026
High

Complexity. Low automation.

Commodity Technology Advisory describes commodity back-office and operations as historically characterised by high complexity and low automation, highlighting post-trade and physical-delivery workflows involving unstructured information from sources such as email and PDFs.

Analyst research on commodity and energy trading operations.
Capco, 2024
100+

Counterparties. Different formats.

Capco describes trading companies receiving confirmations from around a hundred different counterparties daily, with each potentially using a different format, creating review, comparison and reconciliation work.

Illustrates the document and exception-management challenge.

Sources: Capco, 2024 and Commodity Technology Advisory, 2026

How it works

  1. A 30-minute session

    Mapping your current process against a set of standard industry workflows.

  2. Your benchmark, in confidence

    VAKT scores your result against the anonymised aggregate dataset.

  3. First access to the findings

    Your comparison first, then the full report ahead of its wider release.

Before you join

Is this a sales call?
No. It’s research on where the industry stands today, not a pitch for VAKT. There’s no demo unless you ask for one.
Will our data be shared or named?
No. Every contribution is anonymised before it’s added to the dataset. We only publish aggregate findings, and no company is identifiable in the results.
How long does this take?
One 30-minute session, scheduled at a time that suits you. No prep needed beyond someone who knows the current process.
What do we get out of it?
Your own benchmark position against the aggregate dataset, plus early access to the full report ahead of its general release.

See where you stand. Learn from the best in the industry.

Book a 30-minute benchmark session. Your results stay confidential and anonymised.

Get your benchmark session

We’ll only use these details to arrange your session.