Oilfield Chemicals

A recovery in oil prices should bring about increases in the market for chemicals used in oil well drilling, completion, cementing, hydraulic fracturing, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to all see increases in demand.

US demand to reach $10.3 billion in 2019

US demand for oilfield chemicals is forecast to increase to $10.3 billion in 2019, with healthy growth overcoming declines expected in 2015 and 2016. Although low oil prices in 2015 have led to sharp reductions in exploration and development spending, a recovery in prices should bring about a rebound by 2019, allowing the market for chemicals used in drilling, completion, cementing, hydraulic fracturing, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR) to all see increases in demand by the end of the period.

Unconventional drilling benefits oilfield chemicals

The boom in US unconventional drilling has been the most important development in the world’s oil and gas industry since the 1970s, altering the balance of supply and demand at a global level and ultimately contributing to the collapse of oil prices in 2014. At the same time, unconventional oil and gas have dramatically changed the market for oilfield chemicals as higher costs and a greater level of complexity associated with each well have led to rapid demand growth. The use of large volume hydraulic fracturing has markedly increased the volume of chemicals used in an average well completion, while the drilling of ever longer horizontal wells has promoted additional consumption of drilling and completion fluids, cement, and related chemicals.

Slickwater fracturing fluids among best opportunities

The technologies employed in developing tight oil and shale gas resources continue to evolve, and key trends over the next several years will include the ongoing shift toward slickwater fracturing fluids and high-performance drilling muds. Environmental concerns and the development of chemical formulations that can address these concerns will also have an increasing impact on the market during the forecast period, promoting additional demand for more environmentally friendly chemicals, such as biodegradable shale inhibitors and less toxic biocides. Offshore activity is expected to remain an important contributor to the overall market as well, and the need for environmentally compatible fluids and chemicals will be greatest in offshore environments.

Hydraulic fracturing to remain key application

Hydraulic fracturing has emerged as the largest application for oilfield chemicals. Despite the low oil price environment, continued growth in the average volume of fluids used per well will sustain growth in chemical demand. However, this positive factor will be partially offset by the rising use of slickwater fluids with reduced chemical loadings. Guar gum will remain the most significant chemical in hydraulic fracturing.

Study coverage

This Freedonia industry study analyzes the $7.8 billion US oilfield chemical industry. It presents historical demand data (2004, 2009 and 2014) and forecasts (2019 and 2024) by fluid type (e.g., stimulation, drilling, cement slurries, completion and workover), application (e.g., stimulation fluid additives, drilling fluid additives, production chemicals, EOR products, completion and workover fluid products, cement additives) and material (e.g., specialty chemicals, commodity chemicals, polymers, gases). The study also considers market environment factors, details industry structure, evaluates company market share, and profiles 42 industry players, including Nalco Champion, Baker Hughes, and Halliburton.

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  1. Oilfield Chemicals

    $5,300.00

    1. 1 INTRODUCTION

      $323.00

    2. 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

      $323.00

      1. Table | OILFIELD CHEMICAL DEMAND

    3. 3 MARKET ENVIRONMENT

      $3,006.00

      1. 3.1 General

        $323.00

      2. 3.2 Macroeconomic Environment

        $323.00

        1. Table | MACROECONOMIC INDICATORS

      3. 3.3 Crude Oil & Natural Gas Outlook

        $1,116.00

        1. Table | OIL & GAS PRODUCTION & CONSUMPTION

        2. 3.3.1 Oil & Gas Prices

          $323.00

          1. CHART II-1 NATURAL GAS & CRUDE OIL PRICES, 2004-2014

        3. 3.3.2 Petroleum

          $431.00

          1. Table | PETROLEUM SUPPLY & DEMAND

          2. CHART II-2 US PETROLEUM RESERVES, 2004-2014

          3. CHART II-3 PETROLEUM PRODUCTION, 2004-2014

          4. CHART II-4 CRUDE OIL PRODUCING STATES, 2014

          5. Table | CRUDE OIL DRILLING INDICATORS

          6. CHART II-5 CRUDE OIL DRILLING INDICATORS, 2005-2014

          7. CHART II-6 CRUDE OIL PRICES, 2004-2014

        4. 3.3.3 Natural Gas

          $407.00

          1. Table | NATURAL GAS SUPPLY & DEMAND

          2. CHART II-7 NATURAL GAS RESERVES, 2004-2014

          3. CHART II-8 NATURAL GAS PRODUCTION, 2004-2014

          4. CHART II-9 NATURAL GAS PRODUCING STATES, 2014

          5. Table | NATURAL GAS DRILLING INDICATORS

          6. CHART II-10 NATURAL GAS DRILLING INDICATORS, 2005-2014

          7. CHART II-11 NATURAL GAS PRICES, 2004-2014

      4. 3.4 Oilfield Services Outlook

        $323.00

        1. Table | OILFIELD SERVICES INDICATORS

      5. 3.5 Enhanced Oil Recovery

        $323.00

        1. Table | ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (EOR)

      6. 3.6 Market Volatility

        $323.00

        1. Table | OILFIELD CHEMICAL MARKET, 2004-2014

        2. CHART II-12 OILFIELD CHEMICAL MARKET, 2004-2014: OILFIELD CHEMICAL DEMAND & OIL & GAS INDICATORS

      7. 3.7 Pricing Trends

        $382.00

        1. 3.7.1 Drilling & Completion Fluids

          $323.00

          1. Table | AVERAGE DRILLING & COMPLETION FLUID PRICES

        2. 3.7.2 Oilfield Chemicals

          $323.00

          1. Table | SELECTED OILFIELD CHEMICAL PRODUCT PRICES

      8. 3.8 Environmental & Regulatory Considerations

        $323.00

      9. 3.9 Foreign Trade

        $323.00

      10. 3.10 World Oilfield Chemicals Outlook

        $323.00

    4. 4 TECHNOLOGY

      $1,567.00

      1. 4.1 General

        $323.00

      2. 4.2 Drilling Technologies

        $453.00

        1. 4.2.1 Directional Drilling

          $323.00

        2. 4.2.2 Horizontal Drilling

          $323.00

        3. 4.2.3 Pad Drilling

          $323.00

        4. 4.2.4 Underbalanced Drilling

          $323.00

        5. 4.2.5 Other Drilling Technologies

          $323.00

      3. 4.3 Well Completion

        $323.00

      4. 4.4 Well Stimulation

        $458.00

        1. 4.4.1 Hydraulic Fracturing

          $323.00

        2. 4.4.2 Gas Fracturing

          $323.00

        3. 4.4.3 Multistage Fracturing

          $323.00

        4. 4.4.4 Refracturing

          $323.00

        5. 4.4.5 Acidizing

          $323.00

        6. 4.4.6 Other Well Stimulation Technologies

          $323.00

      5. 4.5 Enhanced Oil Recovery

        $323.00

        1. 4.5.1 Thermal Recovery

          $323.00

        2. 4.5.2 Gas Recovery

          $323.00

        3. 4.5.3 Chemical Recovery

          $323.00

        4. 4.5.4 Other EOR Methods

          $323.00

      6. 4.6 Unconventional Resource Development

        $323.00

        1. 4.6.1 Tight Oil

          $323.00

        2. 4.6.2 Shale Gas

          $323.00

        3. 4.6.3 Coalbed Methane

          $323.00

    5. 5 OILFIELD FLUIDS OUTLOOK

      $1,741.00

      1. 5.1 General

        $323.00

        1. Table | OILFIELD FLUID VOLUME BY TYPE

      2. 5.2 Stimulation Fluids

        $572.00

        1. Table | STIMULATION FLUID VOLUME

        2. 5.2.1 Slickwater Fracturing Fluids

          $323.00

          1. Table | SLICKWATER FRACTURING FLUID VOLUME

        3. 5.2.2 Crosslinked & Linear Gels

          $323.00

          1. Table | CROSSLINKED & LINEAR GEL FRACTURING FLUID VOLUME

        4. 5.2.3 Other Stimulation Fluids

          $323.00

          1. Table | OTHER STIMULATION FLUID VOLUME

      3. 5.3 Drilling Fluids

        $688.00

        1. Table | DRILLING FLUID DEMAND BY TYPE

        2. CHART IV-1 DRILLING FLUID DEMAND BY TYPE, 2014: VOLUME & VALUE

        3. 5.3.1 Water-Based Drilling Fluids

          $323.00

          1. Table | WATER-BASED DRILLING FLUID DEMAND

        4. 5.3.2 Oil-Based Drilling Fluids

          $323.00

          1. Table | OIL-BASED DRILLING FLUID DEMAND

        5. 5.3.3 Synthetic-Based Drilling Fluids

          $323.00

          1. Table | SYNTHETIC-BASED DRILLING FLUID DEMAND

        6. 5.3.4 Demand by Location

          $323.00

          1. Table | DRILLING FLUID DEMAND BY LOCATION

        7. 5.3.5 Market Share

          $323.00

          1. CHART IV-2 DRILLING FLUID MARKET SHARE, 2014

      4. 5.4 Cement Slurries

        $323.00

        1. Table | OILFIELD CEMENT SLURRY VOLUME

      5. 5.5 Completion & Workover Fluids

        $323.00

        1. Table | COMPLETION & WORKOVER FLUID DEMAND

        2. 5.5.1 Product Characteristics

          $323.00

        3. 5.5.2 Market Share

          $323.00

          1. CHART IV-3 COMPLETION FLUID MARKET SHARE, 2014

    6. 6 OILFIELD CHEMICAL APPLICATIONS

      $2,864.00

      1. 6.1 General

        $323.00

        1. Table | OILFIELD CHEMICAL PRODUCT DEMAND BY APPLICATION

      2. 6.2 Stimulation Fluid Additives

        $803.00

        1. Table | STIMULATION FLUID ADDITIVE DEMAND

        2. 6.2.1 Gelling Agents

          $323.00

          1. Table | GELLING AGENT DEMAND

        3. 6.2.2 Acids

          $323.00

          1. Table | ACID DEMAND IN STIMULATION FLUIDS

        4. 6.2.3 Biocides

          $323.00

          1. Table | BIOCIDE DEMAND IN STIMULATION FLUIDS

        5. 6.2.4 Friction Reducers

          $323.00

          1. Table | FRICTION REDUCER DEMAND IN STIMULATION FLUIDS

        6. 6.2.5 Breakers

          $323.00

          1. Table | BREAKER DEMAND

        7. 6.2.6 Other Stimulation Fluid Additives

          $323.00

          1. Table | OTHER STIMULATION FLUID ADDITIVE DEMAND

      3. 6.3 Drilling Fluid Additives

        $603.00

        1. Table | DRILLING FLUID ADDITIVE DEMAND

        2. 6.3.1 Weighting Materials

          $323.00

          1. Table | DRILLING FLUID WEIGHTING MATERIAL DEMAND

        3. 6.3.2 Viscosifiers

          $323.00

          1. Table | DRILLING FLUID VISCOSIFIER DEMAND

        4. 6.3.3 Shale Inhibitors

          $323.00

          1. Table | SHALE INHIBITOR DEMAND

        5. 6.3.4 Other Drilling Fluid Additives

          $323.00

          1. Table | OTHER DRILLING FLUID ADDITIVE DEMAND

      4. 6.4 Production Chemicals

        $633.00

        1. Table | OILFIELD PRODUCTION CHEMICAL DEMAND

        2. 6.4.1 Demulsifiers

          $323.00

          1. Table | DEMULSIFIER DEMAND IN OILFIELD PRODUCTION

        3. 6.4.2 Corrosion & Scale Inhibitors

          $323.00

          1. Table | CORROSION & SCALE INHIBITOR DEMAND

        4. 6.4.3 Asphaltene & Paraffin Inhibitors

          $323.00

          1. Table | ASPHALTENE & PARAFFIN INHIBITOR DEMAND IN OILFIELD PRODUCTION

        5. 6.4.4 Other Production Chemicals

          $323.00

          1. Table | OTHER PRODUCTION CHEMICAL DEMAND

      5. 6.5 Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR) Products

        $323.00

        1. Table | ENHANCED OIL RECOVERY (EOR) PRODUCT DEMAND

      6. 6.6 Completion & Workover Fluid Additives

        $323.00

        1. Table | COMPLETION & WORKOVER FLUID ADDITIVE DEMAND

      7. 6.7 Cement Additives

        $438.00

        1. Table | CEMENT ADDITIVE DEMAND

        2. 6.7.1 Fluid Loss Control Additives

          $323.00

          1. Table | CEMENT FLUID LOSS CONTROL ADDITIVE DEMAND

        3. 6.7.2 Accelerators & Retarders

          $323.00

          1. Table | CEMENT ACCELERATOR & RETARDER DEMAND

        4. 6.7.3 Extenders

          $323.00

          1. Table | CEMENT EXTENDER DEMAND

        5. 6.7.4 Other Cement Additives

          $323.00

          1. Table | OTHER CEMENT ADDITIVE DEMAND

    7. 7 OILFIELD CHEMICAL MATERIALS

      $2,317.00

      1. 7.1 General

        $323.00

        1. Table | OILFIELD CHEMICAL DEMAND BY TYPE

        2. CHART VI-1 OILFIELD CHEMICAL DEMAND BY TYPE, 2014

      2. 7.2 Specialty Chemicals

        $565.00

        1. Table | SPECIALTY CHEMICAL DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        2. CHART VI-2 SPECIALTY CHEMICAL DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS, 2014

        3. 7.2.1 Biocides

          $323.00

          1. Table | BIOCIDE DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        4. 7.2.2 Corrosion & Scale Inhibitors

          $323.00

          1. Table | CORROSION & SCALE INHIBITOR DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        5. 7.2.3 Demulsifiers

          $323.00

          1. Table | DEMULSIFIER & RELATED PRODUCT DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        6. 7.2.4 Other Specialty Chemicals

          $323.00

          1. Table | OTHER SPECIALTY CHEMICAL DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

      3. 7.3 Commodity Chemicals

        $580.00

        1. Table | COMMODITY CHEMICAL DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        2. CHART VI-3 COMMODITY CHEMICAL DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS, 2014

        3. 7.3.1 Barite

          $323.00

          1. Table | BARITE DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        4. 7.3.2 Acids

          $323.00

          1. Table | ACID DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        5. 7.3.3 Clays

          $323.00

          1. Table | CLAY DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        6. 7.3.4 Other Commodity Chemicals

          $323.00

          1. Table | OTHER COMMODITY CHEMICAL DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

      4. 7.4 Polymers

        $614.00

        1. Table | POLYMER DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        2. CHART VI-4 POLYMER DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS, 2014

        3. 7.4.1 Natural & Synthetic Gums

          $323.00

          1. Table | NATURAL & SYNTHETIC GUM DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        4. 7.4.2 Polyacrylamides

          $323.00

          1. Table | POLYACRYLAMIDE DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        5. 7.4.3 Cellulose & Starch Polymers

          $323.00

          1. Table | STARCH & CELLULOSE POLYMER DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        6. 7.4.4 Other Polymers

          $323.00

          1. Table | OTHER POLYMER DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

      5. 7.5 Gases

        $455.00

        1. Table | GAS DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        2. 7.5.1 Carbon Dioxide

          $323.00

          1. Table | MERCHANT CARBON DIOXIDE DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

        3. 7.5.2 Nitrogen

          $323.00

          1. Table | NITROGEN DEMAND IN OILFIELD APPLICATIONS

    8. 8 INDUSTRY STRUCTURE

      $5,333.00

      1. 8.1 General

        $323.00

        1. Table | US OILFIELD CHEMICAL SALES BY COMPANY, 2014

      2. 8.2 Market Share

        $365.00

        1. 8.2.1 Formulated Product Suppliers

          $323.00

          1. CHART VII-1 US OILFIELD CHEMICAL FORMULATED PRODUCTS MARKET SHARE, 2014

        2. 8.2.2 Materials Suppliers

          $323.00

      3. 8.3 Competitive Strategies

        $323.00

      4. 8.4 Mergers & Acquisitions

        $323.00

        1. Table | SELECTED ACQUISITIONS & DIVESTITURES

      5. 8.5 Marketing & Distribution

        $323.00

      6. 8.6 Research & Development

        $323.00

      7. 8.7 Company Profiles

        $5,333.00

        1. 8.7.1 Air Products and Chemicals Incorporated

          $323.00

        2. 8.7.2 Akzo Nobel NV

          $323.00

        3. 8.7.3 Albemarle Corporation

          $323.00

        4. 8.7.4 Ashland Incorporated

          $323.00

        5. 8.7.5 Baker Hughes Incorporated

          $323.00

        6. 8.7.6 BASF SE

          $323.00

        7. 8.7.7 Berkshire Hathaway Incorporated

          $323.00

        8. 8.7.8 Canadian Energy Services & Technology Corporation

          $323.00

        9. 8.7.9 Capitol Aggregates Limited

          $323.00

        10. 8.7.10 CEMEX SAB de CV

          $323.00

        11. 8.7.11 Chemours Company

          $323.00

        12. 8.7.12 Chemtura Corporation

          $323.00

        13. 8.7.13 Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC

          $323.00

        14. 8.7.14 Clariant International Limited

          $323.00

        15. 8.7.15 Croda International plc

          $323.00

        16. 8.7.16 Cytec Industries Incorporated

          $323.00

        17. 8.7.17 Dow Chemical Company

          $323.00

        18. 8.7.18 DuPont (EI) de Nemours

          $323.00

        19. 8.7.19 Ecolab Incorporated

          $323.00

        20. 8.7.20 Elementis plc

          $323.00

        21. 8.7.21 Emery Oleochemicals Group

          $323.00

        22. 8.7.22 Enerchem International Incorporated

          $323.00

        23. 8.7.23 GEO Drilling Fluids Incorporated

          $323.00

        24. 8.7.24 Halliburton Company

          $380.00

        25. 8.7.25 Innospec Incorporated

          $323.00

        26. 8.7.26 Israel Chemicals Limited

          $323.00

        27. 8.7.27 Kemira Oyj

          $323.00

        28. 8.7.28 Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP

          $323.00

        29. 8.7.29 Koch Industries Incorporated

          $323.00

        30. 8.7.30 LafargeHolcim Limited

          $323.00

        31. 8.7.31 Messina Incorporated

          $323.00

        32. 8.7.32 Minerals Technologies Incorporated

          $323.00

        33. 8.7.33 National Oilwell Varco Incorporated

          $323.00

        34. 8.7.34 Newpark Resources Incorporated

          $323.00

        35. 8.7.35 Nexeo Solutions LLC

          $323.00

        36. 8.7.36 Praxair Incorporated

          $323.00

        37. 8.7.37 Roemex Limited

          $323.00

        38. 8.7.38 Schlumberger Limited

          $332.00

        39. 8.7.39 SNF SAS

          $323.00

        40. 8.7.40 Solvay SA

          $323.00

        41. 8.7.41 TETRA Technologies Incorporated

          $323.00

        42. 8.7.42 Weatherford International plc

          $323.00

      8. 8.8 Other Companies Mentioned in Study

        $323.00

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