GCC ROV Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

GCC ROV Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The ROV market in GCC is expected to register a CAGR of more than 4.6% during the forecast period of 2022–2027. The COVID-19 outbreak in Q1 of 2020 had led to a decline in demand from end-user applications (includes oil and gas, defense, etc.) and further delayed financial investment decisions and capital expenditure. Rising offshore oil and gas discoveries, and increasing oil and gas decommissioning activities are expected to drive the ROV market in GCC during the forecast period. However, the declining number of offshore rigs and offshore oil and gas activities in GCC countries are restraining the market growth during the forecast period.

Key Highlights

• The inspection, repair, and maintenance activity is expected to witness significant growth during the forecast period, owing to the increasing number aging infrastructure in the region.
• The rising deepwater and ultra-deepwater discoveries are expected to create huge opportunities for the ROV deployment in GCC countries soon.
• Saudi Arabia is expected to dominate the ROV market in GCC region during the forecast period, owing to the increasing number of oilfield services in the offshore sector.

Key Market TrendsInspection, Repair, and Maintenance Activity to Witness Significant Growth

• The utilization rates for ROV in the oil and gas industry registered a consistent decline during 2014-2017, resulting in declining day rates. Generally, the inspection, repair, and maintenance (IRM) segment is protected from the volatility in oil prices, as these operations are considered necessary and unavoidable. However, the combination of a substantial decline in offshore operations and delay in some of the activities had a strong negative impact on the IRM ROV services market.
• During the forecast period, the IRM segment is expected to register significant growth, mainly driven by ageing offshore infrastructure, particularly in the GCC countries. These ageing infrastructure require more frequent monitoring, along with frequent repair and maintenance activities.
• In the offshore sector, the deepwater and ultra-deepwater activities were hit harder by the decline in oil prices. During the period of downturn, the industry adopted a lower price scenario and responded with project re-engineering, efficiency gains, and better expense management, which resulted in a significant reduction of the total operating cost. All such steps have not only resulted in improving the operational efficiency in the industry but have also reduced the breakeven price of offshore deepwater and ultra-deepwater projects.
• Also, a growing number of companies are offering ROV for inspection, repair, and maintenance (IRM) services for offshore projects. Some of major services being offered by the companies include driverless inspection, pipeline maintenance, subsea structure monitoring, and subsea engineering services. For instance, in November 2020, Marseille-based engineering company Subsea Tech has delivered its Tortuga remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to Saudi Aramco. The Saudi national oil company will utilise the ROV for underwater inspections and NDT operations on its offshore infrastructures. Such developments are likely to create positive demand for ROV market in Saudi Arabia under IRM segment during the forecast period.
• Therefore, based on the above-mentioned factors, inspection, repair, and maintenance activity is expected to witness significant growth in GCC during the forecast period.

Saudi Arabia to Dominate the Market

• Saudi Arabia is the second-largest crude oil producer globally, accounting for about 12.2% of the global crude oil produced in 2021. However, the country has witnessed a decline in crude oil production i.e, from 9,213 in 2020 to 9,125 tb/d in 2021. The country is also the largest crude oil exporter in the world. Moreover, Saudi Arabia holds the second-largest proven oil reserves globally at 17.2%, after Venezuela as of 2020.
• Saudi Arabia has maintained its position among the world’s largest offshore oil-producing countries for a while now. The country also has many huge offshore fields, other than the Safaniya oilfield, such as the Marjan oilfield, Manifa oilfield, and others. The country has a long history of offshore oil and gas production, with the first production starting in 1957 from the Safaniya oilfield.
• The Safaniyaoil field is located inthe Arabian Gulf. It is the world's largest offshore conventional oil field in terms of recoverable reserves and production capacity. It is estimated to contain 37 billion barrels of oil and 5,360 billion cubic feet of natural gas. It has a production capacity of 1-1.5 million barrels of heavy crude oil a day.​
• In recent years, the country has been very active in the offshore sector. It has been spending hugely in order to increase the production from its offshore fields. For instance, in December 2021, Saudi Aramco has issued the new Safaniyah upgrade tender as a part of its long-term agreement (LTA) with offshore contractors. The new project, named as contract release purchase order (CRPO) 93, includes brownfield work on the field. The scope of the LTA project includes the engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) of at least one sizeable production deck module destined for Safaniyah offshore field.
• Further, Saudi Arabia is in the process of expanding its existing oil & gas fields. Few major expansion projects include the Berri field and Marjan Oil field. The Berri field is located partly onshore and partly offshore on the east coast of Saudi Arabia and is being expanded under the Berri Increment Program (BIP) to double its crude production capacity to 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2023. The project is scheduled to commission in 2023, with an estimated investment of USD 6 billion. These project is expected to drive the demand of ROV and AUV market in coming future.​
• Also, researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), in June 2022, have teamed with engineers and scientists at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), a leading institute in deep marine science, to research shallow reef and deep-water environments using Japanese specialty equipment (includes remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), unmanned underwater vehicles (AUVs), and human operated vehicles) and the KAUST-owned research vessel, RV Thuwal.
• Therefore, based on the above-mentioned factors, Saudi Arabia is expected to dominate the GCC ROV market during the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

The GCC ROV market is moderately fragmented. Some of the major players in the market include Subsea 7 SA, TechnipFMC PLC, ROVOP, Forum Energy Technologies Inc., and Fugro NV.

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