Asia-Pacific Seismic Services Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Asia-Pacific Seismic Services Market - Growth, Trends, Covid-19 Impact and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Asia-Pacific seismic services market is expected to register a CAGR of more than 6% during the forecast period (2022 – 2027).

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the market severely. The pandemic has led to a series of lockdowns, which caused a significant slump in demand for crude oil. As a result, the prices crashed, which made upstream activities economically unfeasible, leading to delays and cancellation of projects. However, due to a spike in international energy prices, the market is expected to reach pre-pandemic levels during the forecast period. In terms of market growth, factors such as increasing oil and gas exploration in offshore areas and strengthening crude oil prices, making upstream activities economically feasible, are likely to drive the market.

Key Highlights

• Due to increasing investments in the exploration of offshore reserves, the offshore segment of the seismic service market is expected to have significant growth. This is expected to be one of the major factors driving the growth of the market during the forecast period.
• However, the countries in the region are shifting to renewable energy sources, which may restrain the market growth during the forecast period.
• Nevertheless, the technological advancements in seismic surveys for oil and gas exploration are expected to provide a significant opportunity for the seismic market players in the future.
• India is expected to witness the fastest growth in the seismic service market during the forecast period as it focuses on unlocking domestic hydrocarbon resources.

Key Market TrendsOffshore segment to drive the market's growth.

• The Offshore segment of the seismic service market is expected to have a significant share during the forecast period. As offshore seismic data usually has much higher quality than onshore due to several favourable conditions, including repeatable and consistent sources, good conditions for coupling at sources and receivers, and the uniform property of water as the medium.
• Further, there has been a considerable rise in offshore oil and gas rigs and their activities in Asia-Pacific. As of August 2022, about 77 offshore drilling rigs were active in the Asia-Pacific region, a nearly 28% rise from 60 active offshore rigs deployed in February 2021 when the negative effects of the pandemic on the market peaked. Moreover, offshore oil and gas activities in the region will likely rise in the coming years as several countries focus on boosting their domestic oil and gas production.
• In April 2022, the energy ministry announced the Thailand Petroleum Bidding Round to revive domestic upstream activities and support national energy security. Three offshore blocks are now available for bidders. The commitment expenditures for the newly offered blocks are relatively modest, ranging from USD 1.5 million for 2D/3D seismic work to USD 5-7.5 million for exploration drilling.
• In July 2022, PGS, a Norwegian-based seismic company, secured two contracts for the 4D acquisition and 3D exploration in the Asia-Pacific region, constituting a nearly five-month campaign. The company signed the first contract with an undisclosed energy company for a 3D exploration acquisition offshore Indonesia. For the 3D exploration contract off Indonesia, PGS will mobilize its vessel Ramform Sovereign in mid-October, and the work is expected to end by December 2022.
• Further, China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), a Chinese national oil company, has plans to develop a deepwater oilfield complex in the coming years and aims to double its exploration workload and proven reserves by 2025. In early 2022, CNOOC Ltd planned to drill 227 offshore exploration wells and 132 onshore unconventional exploration wells and acquire about 17,000 sq km of 3D seismic data. CNOOC's total capital expenditure for 2022 is around CNY 90-100 billion. The capital expenditures for exploration, development, production, and others will account for about 20%, 57%, 21%, and 2% of total capital expenditures, respectively.
• Further, there has been a considerable rise in offshore oil and gas rigs and their activities in Asia-Pacific. As of August 2022, about 77 offshore drilling rigs were active in the Asia-Pacific region, nearly 28% rise from 60 active offshore rigs in February 2021 when the negative effects of the pandemic on the market peaked. Moreover, offshore oil and gas activities in the region will likely rise in the coming years as several countries focus on boosting their domestic oil and gas production.

India is Expected to be the Fastest Market

• India is expected to be the fastest growing seismic service market in the coming years, as the country plans to unlock its hydrocarbon resources and reduce oil imports, intending to bring more wells into production. Additionally, the government has eased the barriers to entry for foreign oil and gas companies and rolled out favourable policies, such as the Open Acreage License Policy (OALP), to increase domestic oil & gas production. Such an environment is expected to increase the demand for seismic services in the country.
• The Ministry of Petroleum announced that its plans to focus on the oil and gas blocks auction is not only to earn more revenue but also to increase production. Additionally, the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), approved by the government in March 2016, forms a part of the government's strategy to double India's oil and gas output by 2022-2023.
• In 2021, the country witnessed a rise in total gas production, recording about 34024 Million Standard Cubic metres (MMSCM), from 28672 MMSCM in 2020. Further, the government has given marketing and pricing freedom to incentivize gas production from difficult areas, such as high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) reservoirs and deepwater and ultra-deepwater areas. The marketing freedom so granted would be capped by a ceiling price arrived at based on the landed cost of alternative fuels. ​
• India's state-controlled Oil & Natural Gas Corporation's (ONGC) proactive exploration activity in the country's offshore sector is expected to contribute to the significant demand for seismic services. In November 2021, ONGC launched a seismic tender for 3D broadband data acquisition in multiple offshore tracts in the Mumbai and Andaman basins. The new survey aims to acquire 3D broadband data over up to 8500 square kilometres, spread across five key oil and gas blocks.
• Of the five blocks, three blocks lie in the Mumbai basin, offshore the country's western coast in water depths ranging between 40 and 150 meters, in which ONGC wants to acquire almost 4400 square kilometres of 3D broadband data. The remaining two blocks are located in the Andaman basin blocks near India's east coast, where the company wants to acquire 3D broadband data over 4100 square kilometres.
• Additionally, several other entities are also in the country's exploration and production activities, like Oil India Limited, Reliance Industries, etc., which are expected to drive the seismic services market in the coming years.

Competitive Landscape

The Asia-Pacific seismic service market is moderately fragmented. Some of the major players in the market (in no particular order) include Schlumberger Ltd, Halliburton Company, China Oilfield Services Limited, Fugro NV, and SAExploration Holdings Inc.

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