Flowmeters vital to oil and gas industry recovery
Published by Callum O'Reilly,
Senior Editor
Hydrocarbon Engineering,
A 2021 research study from Flow Research, entitled ‘Flowmeters in the Oil and Gas Industry’, has found that worldwide revenues for all flowmeters sold to the oil and gas industry in 2019 amounted to US$1640 million and forecasts a solid compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.6% over the next five years, for a total annual revenue exceeding US$1860 million in 2024.
The oil and gas industry is one of the largest industries for flowmeters and the flowmeter market tends to parallel its ups and downs. Both the flowmeter market — as well as oil and gas prices — had a very strong year in 2018. Though oil and gas prices declined in 2019, they were strong enough to help support a modest increase in flowmeter sales in 2019. However, sales of all types of flowmeters dropped in 2020 due to a decline in oil prices, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a decline in demand for energy products. In 2021, both the oil and gas and the flowmeter markets are recovering and Flow Research sees this trend continuing into 2022 and through 2024.
Differential pressure (DP) flowmeters account for about one-third of flowmeter revenues sold into the oil and gas industry. DP flowmeters consist of DP transmitters together with primary elements, such as orifice plates, Pitot tubes, Venturis, flow nozzles, and other elements. Though DP transmitters and primary elements are quantified separately in the study, they together make up the differential pressure flowmeter market. DP flowmeters are deeply entrenched in the oil and gas industry and have the advantage of a large installed base.
Coriolis flowmeters are second behind DP flowmeters in terms of revenues sold into the worldwide oil and gas industry, followed by ultrasonic and positive displacement meters. Magnetic flowmeters — which do not measure oil, gas, or other nonconductive fluids — are also playing an increasingly important role in the oil and gas industry for water/brine injection, recovery, and disposal. Magnetic flowmeters are widely used to measure the water and chemicals pumped into oil and gas wells during chemical injection for in hydraulic fracturing. They also measure the water that comes out of the well after the fracking operation is complete.
Flow measurement plays a vital role in all three industry segments: upstream, midstream, and downstream.
According to Dr Jesse Yoder, President of Flow Research: “While 2020 was a difficult year for the oil and gas industry and for the flowmeter market, 2021 has been a year of recovery. This trend towards recovery can be expected to continue in 2022, with pent-up demand for travel, spending, and a return to a normal life will propel the demand for energy.
“Expect higher oil and gas prices in 2022, and with it a renewed demand for flow measurement in the oil and gas industry. Despite the pain of the past two years, we have much to look forward to in 2022 and beyond. Expect ultrasonic, Coriolis, positive displacement, and turbine flowmeters to play especially important roles in this energy recovery.”
Read the article online at: https://www.hydrocarbonengineering.com/refining/05012022/flowmeters-vital-to-oil-and-gas-industry-recovery/
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