Market Trends of Intelligent Well Completion Industry
Offshore to be the Fastest Growing Segment
- In offshore drilling, well intervention is expensive and high-risk. Intelligent completions have proven their value in managing production from multilateral wells, horizontal wells with multiple zones, wells in heterogeneous reservoirs, and mature reservoirs. Further technological advancements are expected to aid the market's growth.
- Despite the volatility in oil and gas prices, expectations are that free cash flow is expected to continue to grow in 2023, giving major offshore customers greater flexibility to invest in oil and gas production. A high level of free cash flow aids in new investments in the sector, which may aid the intelligent well-completion market.
- Although significant growth has taken place in unconventional onshore production, offshore production represented approximately 28% of overall oil and gas production in 2021. Offshore oil and gas production is expected to increase due to the increasing demand for hydrocarbon resources. An increase in the offshore sector is expected to contribute to the growth of the market.
- Oil production in the world decreased by 0.5%, to 4221.4 million metric tons in 2021 from 4170.9 million metric tons in 2020. The output may increase further in the forecast period and provide a boost to the intelligent well-completion market.
- Hence, the offshore segment is expected to be the fastest-growing segment in the forecast period due to an increase in free cash flow, advancements in technology, and an increase in oil production.
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North America to Dominate the Market
- In 2021, the United States was the largest producer of oil in the world. It is also among the largest users of intelligent well-completion techniques, which, among others, are used in the economically viable recovery of unconventional sources of hydrocarbons in the country's shale plays. This is because shale oil and gas reservoirs are more complex to handle and tend to mature faster than conventional wells. Therefore, unconventional reservoirs require higher usage of intelligent well completion to produce oil.
- Oil production in the region increased by 1.9%, to 1074.7 million metric tons in 2021 from 1058.7 million metric tons in 2020. The output may increase further in the forecast period and boost the intelligent, well-completed market.
- For their clients, Schlumberger Ltd.'s intelligent well completion system has on average increased production by 20% and decreased water injection by 60%. Many different companies are using and investing in the research and development of the techniques of intelligent well completion to increase the profit from the wells, which is expected to aid the growth of the market.
- As of 2022, the Gulf of Mexico region was responsible for 97% and 15% of the United States' offshore and total hydrocarbon production, respectively. The region has one of the highest global densities of offshore rig deployment and consists of other oil and gas infrastructure such as production and drilling platforms, marine vessels, and pipeline networks.
- Hence, the North American region is expected to be the largest market for intelligent well completion due to its abundant oil production, increasing extraction of unconventional sources, and advancements in technologies.
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