The Africa drilling and completion fluids market is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 6% during the forecast period. Factors such as the increase in the number of drilling operations in African countries are expected to help drive the demand for drilling and completion fluids market. Additionally, the development of shale and deep-water and ultra-deepwater fields are expected to drive the market for drilling and completion fluids. However, the volatile oil prices over the recent period, owing to the supply-demand gap, geopolitical tensions, and several other factors have been restraining the growth in the demand for drilling and completion fluids market.

  • The offshore segment accounted for the largest share in the market in 2019, owing to the offshore oil & gas activities in Nigeria and Senegal, mainly in Southern and Western Africa, where major projects have either started or have been unveiled, awaiting resource appraisal and development.
  • In Africa, wells are being drilled going farther away from land and into the sea and being drilled deeper than before, such as deepwater and ultra-deepwater projects which has created ample opportunities for drilling and completion fluids in the region.
  • Nigeria is expected to dominate the market over the forecast period owing to its robust drilling activities in onshore and offshore regions.



Key Market Trends

Offshore Segment to Dominate the Market

  • Africa’s offshore oil and gas industry continues to expand, and the growth of Africa’s offshore exploration and production activities has been mainly driven by the efforts of governments in their region, to provide key incentives and supporting policies to unlock the investment opportunity, further promulgating the market.
  • Moreover, Africa’s offshore deep and ultra-deep space has continued to attract oil explorers and producers in increasing up their operations, especially in Southern and Western Africa. As the upstream activities continue to increase in Africa, the demand for oil field services is also increasing. This, in turn, is expected to help the services companies to progress in this market over the forecast period.
  • The number of offshore rigs in Africa has been increasing, from 15 in December 2018 to 28 in December 2019. The major reason behind the surge is the declining operational cost in the country’s basin, which has made marginal projects economical in the low oil price regime.
  • Further, companies such as China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Eni have invested in exploration activities in the region, which is further expected to drive the drilling and completion fluids market during the forecast period.



Nigeria to Dominate the Market

  • Nigeria, the largest crude oil producer in the region, produces low-sulfur content crude oil, which has a high global demand pertaining to the need for a reduction in sulfur content in the products, processed by the global refiners. Therefore, Nigeria has dominated the E&P sector, in turn driving the drilling and completion fluid market.
  • Moreover, in Nigeria, a large number of upstream projects were awaiting approval post-2017 at different stages. With the advent of oil price recovery, the operators started gaining confidence and kick-started a few projects. Hence, with upcoming projects in both onshore and offshore are expected to drive the market during the forecast period.
  • The oil rigs and well-completed count, along with the net crude oil production decreased during the 2014-2015 period, but once the oil price started to rise again, the upstream activities began to increase, in turn, impacting the crude oil production and the number of well completion activity in the country positively.
  • Adding to this, the recent development of deepwater, horizontal drilling and fracking have resulted in a massive increase in demand of drilling and completion fluids in the country. Therefore, factors such as rising offshore oil and gas investments in the region are expected to grow the demand for drilling and completion fluids market over the forecast period.



Competitive Landscape

The Africa drilling and completion fluids market is moderately fragmented. Some of the key players operating in the market are Schlumberger Limited, Halliburton Company, Baker Hughes Company, Weatherford International PLC, and National-Oilwell Varco Inc.

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