Research and Markets: Frost & Sullivan Report: European Electric Drives Market in the Oil and Gas Industry

This Frost & Sullivan research service titled European Electric Drives Market in the Oil and Gas Industry provides a comprehensive market overview, revenue forecasts and a complete end-user perspective on electric drives. In this research, Frost & Sullivan's expert analysts thoroughly examine the electric drives market in the oil and gas industry including AC and DC technologies across end-user applications such as upstream, midstream and downstream. The application types covered include pumps, fans and compressors. The analysis includes the geographic regions of Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom, Iberia, Scandinavia, Benelux, Eastern Europe and the rest of western Europe.

Market Overview

Enhanced Oil Recovery Techniques to Trigger Demand for Energy-saving Drives

The electric drives market in the European oil and gas industry has been severely affected by the economic slowdown and the consequent decline in oil prices. Many major investments have been cancelled or have been put on hold indefinitely. The effect of the downturn will remain uniform across all the regions of the European Union (EU) in 2009. However, Frost & Sullivan estimates that the total market is expected to bottom out in the third quarter of 2009 and then gradually recover as the impact of the crisis starts to ease. Scalable, energy-efficient and reliable drives solutions will gain prominence amidst the economic downturn and the ongoing oil crisis. Increased customer service and retention will be key to survival.

"Enhanced oil recovery techniques will spur demand for pumping applications such as progressive cavity pumps (PCP), electrical submersible pumps (ESP) and sucker rod pumps (SRP)," note the analysts of this research. "This demand, in turn, is poised to boost the demand for energy saving electric drives." An increasing number of oil wells are reaching maturity. Accordingly, improved oil recovery techniques will have to be applied to such wells to raise production. Primary recovery techniques are applied when the reservoir pressure is sufficient to push the oil to the surface. Secondary and tertiary recoveries are applied when this pressure falls. Gas re-injection, water flooding and heat injection (hot water or steam) methods are applied to recover hydrocarbons that are difficult to reach in the case of secondary and tertiary processes. These techniques can prolong the life of a well by at least 20 years.

Rising Demand for Scalable, Advanced and Reliable Solutions

The oil and gas industry employs high-power drives catering to highly critical applications including drilling or pump rod. In most cases, the systems have to be customised to suit requirements. "Applications such as drilling and pump rod require special drives with added intelligence or controls for additional parameters, apart from speed/torque," remark the analysts. "In addition, power and voltage requirements also vary with the demands of the application and, in most cases, the drives have to be specially designed and manufactured." As a result, drives have to be customised to suit these applications.

There is a rising need to manufacture drives, which are scalable for different applications and, at the same time, are reliable. Suppliers have to deliver energy-efficient drives with the least possible lead time. Technically advanced solutions, which have better transient response, induce lower harmonics and are highly reliable, have been introduced into the market. To gain a competitive edge and improve market share, leading drive manufacturers and solution providers need to increase investments in R&D and support innovative, cutting-edge solutions.

Key Topics Covered:

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