Wireline Services Market Overview
The major trend being witnessed in the global wireline services market is increased investments for boosting the production of wireline service products. Owing to the large-scale application of these products in the oil and gas industry, most of the market players are focusing on expanding their production capacity. These investments in wireline services are majorly aimed at the upgradation of existing wells, exploration of new wells, and expansion in new markets geographically.
In the oil and gas field, wireline services incorporate the cabling technology, which is utilized by well operators, to limit the number of equipment and devices used in wells. These services are used in exploration activities for well intervention, reservoir evaluation, and pipe recovery. Thus, the recovery in oil and gas prices is expected to boost the growth of the wireline services market in the future.
The market is categorized into wireline services for cased and open holes. Globally, the cased-hole category held a larger share in the wireline services industry during the historical period. The market for this category is driven by the fact that a well having proper metal casing along with proper cementing of the wall (to prevent any damage caused by the pressure of the fluid being extracted) results in higher well stability. Cased-hole wireline services are further categorized into electriclines and slicklines.
Electriclines held a significant market share under the cased-hole category during the historical period, owing to their advantages such as efficient and accurate data collection.
The need for reinforcing existing reserves, increase in energy demand, and growing number of mature oil fields are some of the major factors driving the growth of the wireline services market. The market is also driven by the world’s tightening oil supply, resulting in increasing oil demand and advancements in the wireline services technology.
Based on region, the wireline services market is categorized into Europe, North America, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East and Africa. Among all these regions, North America held the largest share in the wireline services industry during the historical period. This can be majorly attributed to the presence of several major oilfield service companies, such as Baker Hughes, a GE company and Halliburton Energy Services Inc., in the region. Moreover, the commercial exploration of shale gas in the U.S. is expected to support the growth of the North American wireline services market during the forecast period.
Wireline Services Market Dynamics
Driver
The major factor driving the growth of the wireline services market is the growing demand for oil and gas from across the world. Due to the increasing energy demand worldwide, conventional oil and gas resources are being used up and, therefore, depleting at a fast pace. Thus, in order to meet the ever-increasing energy demand, major oil companies are shifting their focus toward unconventional oil and gas reserves for the exploration of shale oil, shale gas, tight oil, tight gas, and coal bed methane (CBM), which involves the utilization of services pertaining to the wireline technology.
The shift toward unconventional resources has led to the shale gas boom in recent years, particularly in the U.S. Thus, rising exploration and production activities for recovering unconventional hydrocarbon sources, such as tight gas, shale gas, and CBM, are expected to continue driving the wireline services market in the coming years.
Restraints
Major restraints identified in the wireline services market are the fluctuation in oil prices and the requirement for high capital for the exploration of oil wells. Over the past few years, the prices of oil have declined sharply, thereby eroding the profitability of oil companies. Moreover, political uncertainty in major oil-producing countries, such as Russia, Venezuela, and Iran, is adding to the woes of oil and gas companies, which are now wary of inducing fresh capital to expand their production capacity. Thus, the delay in expansion plans will continue to hinder the growth of the wireline services industry in the coming years.
Opportunity
The wireline services market is expected to witness significant growth in emerging oil-producing regions, particularly Africa and the Pacific Ocean. These regions have vast unexplored reserves of oil and gas, which are sufficient to meet the growing energy demand. The untapped oil reserves in these regions, therefore, offer lucrative opportunities for the players operating in the market.
Wireline Services Market Competitive Landscape
Some of the major companies operating in the global wireline services market are Expro International Group Holdings Ltd., Superior Energy Services Inc., Weatherford International Inc., Baker Hughes, a GE company, Nabors Industries Ltd., Schlumberger Limited, C&J Energy Services Inc., Pioneer Energy Services, OilSERV, and Halliburton Energy Services Inc.
The study provides the historical as well the forecast market size data for various countries, including the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, the U.K., Italy, Spain, Japan, China, India, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
