Oil and gas industry experts are confident that the market is on the rebound following a dip of around $30 per barrel in 2015. By early 2018, prices have risen to around $60 to $65 per barrel. Falling prices sparked the rise and search for renewable energy sources, but oil and gas continue to be the world’s primary sources of energy. “It is a good thing that some people are trying to improve efficiency of those sources of [renewable] energy,” said Axel Bokiba, Pulsafeeder vice president of product management and business line director. “The reality is that the energy links will still largely be made of fossil fuels over the next 25 years. “I believe that 80 percent of that energy will come from the fossil fuels. Oil, gas and coal will still be needed. That requires new sources, new wells to be drilled and new basins to be discovered.” When oil prices were around $40 per barrel, focus shifted to developing projects on U.S. land. There, cash flow could be generated quickly, said Robin Macmillan, senior vice president at National Oilwell Varco (NOV). Offshore projects bring in multiyear returns but cost much more to develop. Offshore activity is now at a low point, Macmillan said. NOV has shifted its revenue focus over the past two to three years from offshore to onshore, and it would like to see major oil companies invest more offshore. But that will not happen until the projects are commercially viable. “It will be good to see the offshore business come back,” Macmillan said. “Some of that will be driven by the effect of the global balance of supply and demand on commodity prices, along with the fact that there are now technologies enabling drilling to be more efficient. “Some of those efficiencies have been tested and proven on land and can be taken offshore, such as drilling automation. We are seeing increasing levels of automation, which are helping improve those efficiencies; some of the technologies can help more of the offshore business become more profitable.” Shallow water (below 400 meters deep) is the most significantly depleted source of oil and gas. Bokiba and others feel that companies need to expand drilling to deepwater ranges (400 to 1,200 meters), but the challenge is finding a cost efficient way. “Oil and gas will have to be extracted from deeper and deeper areas offshore,” Bokiba said. “Offshore and deep water will be something that further drives technology. We know that energy will have to be extracted and the whole oil and gas industry will have to find ways to extract energy in a cost efficient way.” Macmillan feels that the oil and gas business has been traditionally slow to adopt new technologies, but the downturn of the last few years has seen an increase in the need for reliable, repeatable performance, which has boosted the demand for automated systems. The issue now is not about how high oil prices will go, but what the breakeven price will be. In 2017, Bokiba gave a presentation at OTC in Houston that showed a breakeven price of about $80 per barrel. Many in the industry consider this to be too high and have focused relentlessly on increasing efficiencies and lowering this breakeven price. “In addition to the many partnerships and commercial agreements amongst EPCs [engineering, procurement and construction companies], I believe that it will be technology enhancements that close the last gaps and make deepwater projects more cost-effective,” Bokiba said. “Some of these enhancements will include more compact and energy efficient equipment on platform topsides, as well as innovative injection architectures and more efficient separation processes on the sea bed.” Here are some insights from other industry experts.
We talked to industry experts about how things have changed since the 2015 oil price crash.
Pumps & Systems
04/26/2018