Recovery expected for US oilfield chemicals by 2013 Demand for oilfield chemicals in the US is expected to surpass $10 billion in 2013. The market is currently in the midst of a slump, the result of declining oilfield activity brought on by precipitous drops in oil and natural gas pricing and weakness in the global economy. However, oil prices are expected to recover fairly quickly, reigniting rig activity and boosting demand for drilling fluids, stimulation chemicals and other product types. While natural gas prices are expected to rebound more slowly, the oilfield chemical market is projected to spring out of the 2009-2010 trough and once again register healthy gains.
Challenges abound for domestic producers The era of easy oil production in the US has been gone for decades. Since 1970, domestic crude oil output has generally fallen due to depleting reservoirs, environmental restrictions and a lack of investment. The natural gas situation is more critical. With limited ability to import natural gas, the country will remain reliant on maintaining production levels from an increasingly mature resource base. Although improved technologies have boosted initial well flows, they have also substantially accelerated depletion rates, forcing producers to drill more wells just to keep natural gas output at existing levels. In both the oil and gas sectors, these limitations are driving producers toward higher-cost projects in difficult operating environments, such as the deepwater fields of the Gulf of Mexico and unconventional coalbed methane and shale fields.
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Oilfield chemicals instrumental in addressing these challenges Overcoming these significant difficulties will require continued high levels of oilfield activity. Even with the sharp decline in US oilfield activity through the first half of 2009, the US accounts for about half of the global rig count, despite producing less than ten percent of the world’s oil and less than 20 percent of the world’s natural gas. As the global economy recovers from the current downturn, oil and gas demand rebounds and prices begin to climb again, oilfield activity will similarly rebound. The rebound in rig counts, the continued growth of well stimulation techniques and the ongoing push into deepwater drilling and production will provide a wide range of opportunities for the suppliers of both formulated oilfield chemicals and their raw materials. The fastest among these gains for formulated products will be from stimulation chemicals. Such increases will also drive gains for the raw materials such as barite, surfactants and polymers needed to formulate all oilfield chemicals, although drilling fluids will lag the overall average for much of the forecast period.
Study coverage Oilfield Chemicals, a new Freedonia study available for $4800, assesses the upstream environment of the US oil and gas industry, including projections assessing future levels of oilfield activity and the affects of emerging trends. This study provides historical data as well as forecasts (2013 and 2018) for formulated products and for raw materials. The study also evaluates company market share and profiles 42 oilfield chemical suppliers.
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