Oilfield Service Investments Driven by New Oil and Gas Field Discoveries to Fuel Market Growth
Oilfield chemicals are chemicals used in upstream oil and gas operations to facilitate effective and efficient extraction of hydrocarbons (oil or natural gas) from onshore or offshore hydrocarbon reservoirs. They find important applications in oilfield service operations in the upstream O&G industry. Drilling, workover and completion, production, well cementing, well stimulation, and chemical enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) are the key application areas of oilfield chemicals.
Key product types of every application area have been considered for the purpose of this global research service. Onshore and offshore consumption have been quantitatively compared for all key regions and for every application segment within the total oilfield chemicals market. All region-wise markets have also been broken down further into key sub-regions.
In the last ten years, North America, which used to fall short of natural gas resources and had to depend on LNG imports, has transformed itself into a gas exporting region. This is largely due to major successes in shale gas discoveries, coupled with successful E&P activity through technological developments, which has led to more than 50% of gas production for the region. In the next seven years, shale gas E&P activity growth will continue to be on the rise and be a major North American gas supply source. The Permian and Appalachian shale basins are the major gas fields which demand increased oilfield services activity; this, in turn, drives the demand for oilfield chemicals in the region. Furthermore, significant advances in shale gas extraction technology and improved efficiency are reducing break-even prices for natural gas E&P operators in North America, thereby driving investments in oilfield services.
Maintenance times of rigs have been contributing to a slowdown in O&G production, thereby adversely impacting the extent of oilfield services activity. For instance, there has been a decline in oilfield services and drilling activity in Trinidad and Tobago, which had an impact on the demand for oilfield chemicals. This, to a considerable extent, was the result of significant offshore rig maintenance activity in the country.
Chemically enhanced oil recovery (CEOR) demonstrates significant cost benefits, as it helps raise production of oil at lower costs rather and eliminated the need to drill for new production wells. The incremental cost associated with implementing CEOR techniques is much beneficial to large oil fields with substantial hydrocarbon volumes. Furthermore, digitization of the chemical EOR process is an added benefit; end users can gain from the benefits of models where they can see the chemical interaction between the injected chemical and the level of a hydrocarbon produced.
Fast-growing oilfield service markets, such as China, India, Southeast Asia, Brazil, Russia, and Mexico, fuel the rapid growth in demand for oilfield chemicals. Global oilfield chemical companies and oilfield service companies which have backward integrated to produce customized product formulations are offering strong technical support using their global distribution network to compete effectively.