Soaring oil & gas demand to catapult well intervention over $14 billion by 2031, Fact.MR says

Fact.MR, a market research company, expects the global well intervention market to exceed $14 billion by 2031, since, offshore oil and gas exploration projects are expected to double the growth of the well intervention market, as operators seek to increase production from existing fields amid the skyrocketing oil and gas demand.

The firm believes that the well intervention market will reach $7.1 billion in 2021 with an increase of 7 per cent CAGR between 2021 and 2031, thus, surpassing $14 billion by the end of 2031. The most significant factors driving the well intervention market are rising demand for oil and gas across the globe, increasing need to revamp and refurbish existing oilfields, and high investments by governments to explore new oilfield reserves.

The demand for well intervention is very high in the oil and gas sector, as this is a remedial operation carried out on oil and gas wells to increase production capacity. Therefore, the ever-increasing focus on improving the operational efficiency of wells will continue to accelerate the growth of this market.

Furthermore, the rising number of offshore oil and gas exploration projects planned for the forthcoming decades – especially across Africa and North America – is anticipated to create high demand for offshore well intervention services.

In addition, the adoption of digitalisation and automation in intervention services has made the restoring process of complex wells easy and more effective. Manufacturers are designing and launching a new autonomous well intervention system in response to this, so that, they can maximise production while reducing intervention costs.

According to Fact.MR’s analysis, the light well intervention will continue to dominate the global market, accounting for around 56 per cent of the revenue share by 2031. It is also worth bearing in mind that the demand for light well intervention is surging as it is considered to be the most cost-efficient solution for restoring oil and gas wells. Sales are expected to burgeon over the coming years, as light well intervention enables more operations, resulting in better repair and exploration of subsea wells.

Moreover, North America is estimated to dominate the global well intervention market, with the U.S. spearheading the growth. The U.S. is poised to exhibit strong growth on the back of increasing investments by the government in activities related to the energy industry, the presence of thousands of production wells and increasing consumption of oil and gas, says Fact.MR study.

There are over 90,000 production wells in the U.S. based on the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)’s report. The U.S. oil production reached 12.8 million barrels per day while natural gas gross withdrawals reached 116.8 billion cubic feet per day in December 2019.

“Amid surging demand for oil and gas, governments are investing heavily for exploring more oil and gas reserves. This is anticipated to create lucrative growth avenues within well intervention market. Besides this, rising need for restoring old oil and gas wells will bode well for the market,” says a Fact.MR analyst.

Additionally, the U.S. market is slated to expand at a CAGR of 8 per cent over the forecast period, owing to the increasing exploration of shale reserves and oil and gas projects, while India is poised to register growth at 6.5 per cent CAGR by the end of 2031 with increasing investments in oil and gas activities.

The study shows that offshore well intervention is likely to dominate the market, accounting for 55 per cent of revenue by 2031. Fact.MR warns that the increasing volatility of oil prices and the gradual shift towards alternate renewable sources of energy might impede the growth in the market. The implementation of stringent government regulations is also limiting growth.

The latest Fact.MR’s study also claims that the leading players operating in the well intervention market are leveraging various growth strategies to gain a competitive edge and expand their global operations. The strategies include product innovation, mergers, acquisitions, collaborations and new facility establishments.

Earlier this month, Helix Energy Solutions Group joined Trendsetter Engineering in a global partnership to provide integrated hydraulic intervention services for subsea wells and flowlines.

This partnership will integrate Trendsetter’s 15,0000psi Subsea Tree Injection Manifold (15K STIM) and experienced personnel into Helix’s state-of-the-art fleet of well intervention vessels and equipment used to perform well services globally.

Another relevant player, Expro, also made a contribution to the well intervention market by launching Galea – the world’s first fully autonomous well intervention system – to maximise production while reducing intervention costs, HSE risks and environmental impact. This replaces larger, conventional and more labour-intensive wireline rig-ups for a range of slickline operations such as solids removal, plug setting/pulling and logging surveys.

To remind, Expro also completed the previously announced merger with Frank’s International in October this year. With its varied technology portfolio and innovation pipeline, the firm assures it is able to capitalise on digital transformation, facilitate the energy transition, and deliver on the promise of a lower-carbon future.