Geofinancial Analytics, an ESG-focused satellite data provider, has released a new data product that detects methane emission leaks from oil and gas providers.

Launching the product at Neudata’s San Francisco Summit, Geofinancial explained that MethaneScan’s current coverage universe spans the Russell 3000 Index, but the firm has plans to expand to other firms and industries. The product uses satellite data to detect methane emissions near a company’s production facilities and compares those results to those of the firm’s peers. Heat maps are updated daily.

Levels of methane, a greenhouse gas that is a primary component of natural gas, have been increasing over the past decade. “The US oil and gas supply chain alone emits 13 million metric tons of methane from its operations each year — enough to offset much of the climate benefits of burning natural gas instead of coal,” said Jessica Hellmann, Geofinancial’s chief scientist.

At the same time, investors have become less tolerant of corporate ESG incidents. Legal & General, a USD 1.4trn asset manager, announced recently a “zero tolerance” policy for methane leaks, while other investors have penalised companies like Volkswagen for its gas emission scandals.

Mark Kriss, the firm’s CEO, noted that the product moves beyond conventional ESG metrics—which rely on company disclosures and analysis of news and social media—to a new frontier of live scientific observations of a firm’s activities.