Measurement While Drilling (MWD) Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecast (2020 - 2025)

The global measurement while drilling (MWD) market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 7% over the period of 2020-2025. Factors such as meeting the expected oil demand in the future for which opportunities lie in offshore deep-sea beds, where oil & gas operators continue to discover new reserves is driving the market. Rising unconventional and deep-water E&P activities, increasing directional drilling activities, and increasing need for higher productivity and efficiency are some of the key factors driving the MWD market. The challenge, however, is volatile crude oil prices which cause delay in oil and gas upstream projects, which in turn is expected to restrain the MWD market during the forecast period.

• The offshore oil and gas industry which accounts for 30% of the global crude oil production, is expected to drive the market and be the largest segment in comparison to onshore.
• The development of deepwater and ultra-deepwater reserves are likely to act as an opportunity in the future.
• North America is the largest and the fastest growing market, led by the United States mainly due to increased exploration and production activities in its tight oil and shale reserves.

Key Market Trends

Offshore Oil and Gas to Dominate the Market

• In 2018, the offshore discoveries represented around 82% of the total discoveries. Additionally, there was a significant growth in the reserve replacement ratio to around 15%, from 11% in 2017.
• The Middle-East, North Sea, Brazil, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caspian Sea are the major offshore oil and gas producing regions. The deepwater oil production is majorly concentrated in four countries, namely, Angola, Brazil, Nigeria, and the United States.
• The changing economics and the exhaustion of some shallow offshore resources have compelled the producers to shift toward deepwater and ultra-deepwater resources. Moreover, the cost of operation in the offshore locations declined significantly over the past few years, which is encouraging the industry to step up its expenditure gradually in the future.
• In 2018, the Oil and Gas Natural Corporation (ONGC) awarded a USD 1.52 billion contract to Baker Hughes Co., McDermott, and L&T Hydrocarbon (LTHE) for the deep-water development project, KG-DWN-98/2 (Cluster-2), in the Krishna Godavari basin.
• Furthermore, hydraulic fracturing and directional drilling are considered to be one of the best technological combinations to be deployed over the last decade, which has changed the oil & gas drilling landscape in various parts of the world, particularly in North America.
• Over the years, as drilling becomes more complex, and horizontal and directional drills increasing in numbers, well logging methods, such as measurement while drilling (MWD) market is being driven.
• Also, as long as the crude oil price is well above USD 60 per barrel, majority of the new discoveries are expected to witness development in the coming years and drive the demand in the measurement while drilling market.

North America to Dominate the Market

• Drilling activities in North America has been increasing amidst rising oil & gas prices. The North American rig count reached 1118 in first week of May 2018, up by 114 from the 974 rig counts recorded in first week of May 2017.
• This surge in drilling activities has created optimism in the North American oil & gas market and hence, is considered to be a good sign for MWD service providers.Further, with rapidly increasing directional and horizontal drilling activities in the region, North America is expected to dominate the MWD market during the forecast period.
• The effectiveness of horizontal wells in the United States further increases in case of shale reserves, as the wells in shale reservoir only drain around the wellbore reservoir, unlike sandstone or carbonate reservoirs. However, the increasing share of horizontal/lateral wells is posing technical challenges in the completion of operations for drilling, in turn, warranting for sophisticated technologies, such as MWD.
• After the United States, Canada was the first country to witness the large-scale development of shale reserves, accounting for 10% of the global shale reserves. The country plans to exploit its shale reserves, to promote its economic recovery, and promulgate the MWD market.
• Hence, increasing oilfield exploration with the presence of several companies offering oilfield services are some of the major factors that augment the market growth in North America, especially in the United States.

Competitive Landscape

The measurement while drilling (MWD) market is fragmented. Some of the key players in this market include National-Oilwell Varco Inc., Halliburton Company, Schlumberger Limited, Baker Hughes Co. and Weatherford International Limited.

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