Compressor Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The global compressor market was valued at USD 38.28 billion in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 50.45 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 4.47% during the forecast period of 2022-2027. In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic posed a global health crisis and negatively influenced the global economy, including almost all the industrial and commercial sectors. Some of the major end-user industries for the compressor market include oil and gas and the power sector, both of which sustained some heavy losses during the pandemic, especially in the year 2020.​ Factors such as growing demand for natural gas, which, in turn, is leading to a growing gas pipeline network, is expected to be one of the most significant drivers for the compressor market during the forecast period. However, increasing solar and wind power installation are expected to decrease the dependency of the countries on the fossil fuel-fired power generation, such as coal and natural gas. This poses a threat to compressor market during the forecast period.

Key Highlights

• Oil and gas end-user segment is likely to dominate the compressor market owing to the increased use of different types of compressors in upstream, midstream and downstream sectors for several distinctly different applications, such as transmission, storage, gas gathering, gas lift, gas injection, flash gas compression, refrigeration, etc.
• Several compressor manufacturers are making strides to develop more energy-efficient products, amid rising end-user demands and changing energy efficiency standards. This factor is expected to create several opportunities for the market in the future.
• Asia-Pacific is the largest market and is also expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. It is driven by China and India, due to the growing natural gas infrastructure in these countries.

Key Market Trends

Oil and Gas Segment Expected to Dominate the Market

• The oil and gas industry offers widespread applications for both positive displacement and dynamic compressors, which include the upstream, midstream, and downstream sector. The compressors serve various purposes across the oil and gas industry, such as gas transportation, compression for gas injection, gas gathering, gas lift, etc.​
• In oil and gas upstream operations gas lifts are used, in which low-pressure gas (3 to 7 bar) is compressed to a higher pressure and recycled down the well casing-tubing annulus, through a gas lift valve into the tubing at a predetermined depth that enables to lighten the liquid column in the tubing.​
• Dynamic compressors are used in later phases to maintain or increase gas flow into the pipeline systems in gas fields, as the reservoir pressure tends to decrease over time. The gas reinjection is used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to compensate for the natural decline in production from the oil fields.​
• With the increasing environmental awareness over the last decade, most countries have planned to lower their carbon emissions by shifting from coal-based electricity generation to gas-based energy generation concept, which supported the natural gas production increase globally during 2010-2020 by 22.3%. The increase in natural gas production and its consumption for power generation is likely to continue, which is expected to support the demand for compressors from the oil and gas industry.​
• For instance, India is developing its gas pipeline infrastructure to meet the growing demand. In the annual budget of 2021, the Indian government announced a pipeline project for the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.​
• On a similar note, the government of China has set a target to achieve net-zero emissions by 2060. Under the country's energy transition plan, natural gas is expected to play a crucial role in reducing the CO2 emissions, and it is expected to be the country's largest energy source in the next decade.​
• Further, according to the United States Energy Information Administration (EIA), in the long term, due of expected increases in international demand for natural gas, the country’s LNG exports are expected to more than double between 2020-2029, which is likely to have a positive impact on the compressor market.​
• Therefore, owing to the above points, oil and gas segment is expected to dominate the compressor market during the forecast period.

Asia-Pacific to Dominate the Market

• Asia-Pacific is home to some of the largest consumer and largest importer countries of natural gas in the world. This region is still primarily dependent on oil and coal for its energy needs. But the recent trend is toward increasing the use of natural gas owing to growing concerns over air pollution.
• The power generation and manufacturing industries are the biggest consumers of natural gas in this region. Increasing demand for electricity in countries, such as India and China is expected to drive natural gas demand.
• Urbanization and increasing middle class in countries in the Asia-Pacific region are expected to drive the growth of residential gas consumption. The growing gas consumption is expected to help drive the gas compressor demand in the midstream gas industry, as well as the power and manufacturing industry.
• China is committed to strengthening its oil and natural gas pipeline network in the next ten years to boost further the clean fuel's share in China's energy mix. According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the country's oil and gas pipeline network is expected to reach 240,000 km by 2025. Out of the 240,000 km, the natural gas pipelines are expected to reach 123,000 km. As compressors are one of the most used equipment powering the long-distance natural gas pipeline, the growth in the pipeline network is expected to drive the demand for the compressors during the forecast period.​
• Similarly, India is investing in its petrochemical business which is anticipated to create a rising demand for compressors. For instance, in June 2021, the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Gujarat government to set up six different projects, including the LuPech project for petrochemicals Acrylics-Oxo Alcohol project at Dumad near Vadodara and hydrogen dispensing facility around Vadodara. The projects combined will entail an investment of INR 24,000 crore.​
• In August 2021, Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy tied up funding of INR 4,000 crore from a State Bank of India-led lenders' consortium for its first petrochemicals project. The company plans to use the funds to set up a 450,000 million metric ton per annum polypropylene plant at its Vadinar refinery in Gujarat. These downstream oil and projects in the country are expected to support the demand for compressor during the forecast period.
• Therefore, owing to the above points, Asia-Pacific is expected to dominate the compressor market during the period studied.

Competitive Landscape

The compressor market is fragmented. Some of the key players in this market are Atlas Copco AB, Baker Hughes Co., Ingersoll-Rand Inc, Siemens Energy AG, and Sulzer Ltd.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support