Study: Oil and gas seal market to rebound

VALLEY COTTAGE, N.Y.—One market research firm on the west bank of the Hudson River, just north of New York City, reports that the oil and gas seals market is exiting a period of deceleration, and all indications are that it will recover in 2022.

The market will recover at about a 3.3-percent CAGR, on average, from 2022 through 2031, driven by exploration activities and infrastructure development across the globe, according to Future Market Insights.

The pandemic-driven downturn had caused about a -6.5-percent decline in 2021 over 2020, the industry watchdog reported last week.

"This downturn is majorly ascribed to the recessionary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the oil and gas industry across the world," FMI stated in a Dec. 9 summary of a recently released report. "Fortunately, recovery is on the cards beginning 2022, with a projected annual increase of approximately 3 percent."

Technological disruptions that are expected to improve efficiency are coming, FMI said, as blockchain technology should enhance data collection security and automation and robotic augmentation should improve drilling projects and reduce downtime.

Mechanical seals, about 17 percent of the overall global oil and gas seal market, saw about $176.1 million in sales in 2021, according to FMI.

Refining and distillation units are expected to drive much of the sales growth in the coming years for mechanical seals.

Raw material choices for seal manufacturing continue to be the advanced polyetheretherketone and polytetrafluoroethylene.

In fact, PEEK plastics represented about 55 percent of the material used in 2021 in oil and gas seal manufacturing, FMI said.

While the U.S., U.K. and Gulf Cooperation Council countries are expected to see the most lucrative oil and gas markets moving forward, Germany and France are expected to be "relatively muted" in the oil and gas seal space, according to FMI, at about 2-percent CAGR through 2031.

"Manufacturers are focused on developing new seals using cost-efficient manufacturing techniques and advanced raw materials such as elastomers and plastic/polymers like polytetrafluoroethylene, polyetheretherketone and others with high pressure and temperature resistance standards," said one FMI analyst.

The oil and gas landscape remains competitive and is becoming more consolidated, FMI said, as "the leading players" account for about three-quarters of the overall market share.

Smaller firms are expected to increase their own competitiveness though 2031, FMI noted.

The big players in the oil and gas sealing space include Parker Hannifin Corp., EnPro Industries, Flowserve Corp., Datwyler Holding Inc., Freudenberg Group, Trelleborg A.B. and several others.