Oil Spill Management Market Analysis By Technology (Pre-Oil Spill, Post-Oil Spill), By Response Technique (Mechanical Containment & Recovery, Chemical Recovery, Biological Recovery), By Application, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025

Industry Insights

The global oil spill management market size was worth 131.16 billion in 2015. Increasing safety concerns coupled with rising figure of oil spill incidents globally over the last few years is expected to drive the global market over the next nine years. A significant increase in the onshore and offshore drilling activities has led to the growth in oil & gas transportation. 

Growth in oil & gas transportation through tanker and pipelines along with tough government safety guidelines are anticipated to positively impact on global oil spill management industry. Major industry players are engaged in investing a huge amount in R&D. This is expected to build huge opportunities and result in industry expansion over the forecast period. 

U.S. oil spill management market by technology, 2014 - 2025 (USD Billion)

Globally numerous initiatives have been taken by governments & safety agencies such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), to control and monitor the leakages and oil spills at the source or during transportation of oil & gas. Some of the key requirements include installation of pipeline leak detection sensors and double hulling of transportation carriers. Growing concern and stringent safety norms towards preventing on-site and transportation occupational hazards in petroleum facilities are anticipated to remain the key factors contributing towards the implementation of pre-oil spill management techniques over the forecast period.

Major oil spill offshore locations include Gulf of Alaska in North America, Gulf of Mexico, North Sea in Europe and the Persian Gulf in the Middle East. Rising onshore as well as offshore oil spill incidents are expected to drive the market over the next nine years. Major onshore areas include Russia, the U.S., Azerbaijan, Canada, Indonesia, Australia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Iraq, Nigeria, Venezuela, and Angola.

Technology Insights

Pre-oil spill and post oil-spill are the two major oil spill management technologies used in the market. The pre-oil spill management technology is further bifurcated into double-hull, pipeline leak detection, blowout preventers, and others. Double-hulling technology is the major pre-oil spill management technique from past few years and accounted for over 69% of the market in 2015. The marine trade holds a majority part of oil & gas product transportation. The rising demand for crude oil and petroleum products from energy industries of Europe and Asia Pacific region is anticipated to boost the market growth over the next nine years. 

Rising concern regarding harmful environmental impacts from hull-breach incidents has urged international organizations and governments to standardize the tanker design. In addition, it has also resulted in enhancing tanker protection against collisions and natural disasters. These factors are anticipated to boost the growth of the double-hull technology over the next nine years.

The mechanical containment and recovery was the largest post-oil spill management response technique in the years, which accounted for over 61% of total market in 2015. The method involves use of Containment booms, sorbents, and skimmers for cleaning up an oil spill. These response techniques are most useful practices for large scale spills for near shore and deep sea areas.

Post-Oil Spill Response Technique Insights

The global post-oil spill response techniques are widely bifurcated into mechanical containment and recovery (containment booms (hard booms, sorbent booms, fire booms), skimmers (weir skimmers, oleophilic skimmers, non-oleophilic skimmers), and sorbent), chemical recovery (dispersing agents and gelling agents), biological recovery, and physical recovery.

China oil spill management market by post-oil spill response technique, 2016 (%)

Chemical oil-spill response technique accounted for around 19% of the market in 2015. The technique involves the usage of gelling and dispersants agents, which enhance the breakdown of oil components naturally. The chemical dispersants allow the water and oil to bound chemically. This results in the prevention of slick from spreading over the water surface and also increases the surface area of an oil molecule.

Biological recovery market was valued at USD 2.73 billion in 2015. Various biological agents used for oil spill break downs the oil into carbon dioxide and fatty acids. This recovery process is usually used for areas where spilled oil has reached the shore. However, recently this process has also been applied as test cases in river systems. Phosphorous and nitrogen-based fertilizers are used in the process. These fertilizers are dropped into the water bodies or areas to increase the growth of microorganisms, which break downs the sand bound oil.

Application Insights

Offshore was the largest application for pre-oil spill management in the year 2015, accounting for over 71% of the overall total market. The rising requirement for oil-spill management technology in harsh environments, remote locations, and deepwater is anticipated to drive the product demand over the next nine years. Upcoming projects predominantly in the South China Sea & Persian Gulf region and renewal of abandoned wells are anticipated to drive offshore E&P activity over the foreseeable future. 

Increased regulation, taxes and fines related to post-oil spill containment is pressurizing upstream and midstream oil & gas companies to deploy safety equipment for uninterrupted operations. These equipment includes pipeline leak detection systems, blowout preventers (BOP) and other systems. A large number of ongoing pre-oil spill technology demand especially in the U.S., Qatar, and Saudi Arabia is expected to witness considerable growth over the forecast period.

Remote locations, for instance, arctic regions, coastal islands, and others are mainly dependent on the marine ecosystem for their economic growth. Increasing damage to sea grasses, feeding grounds, and coral reefs of marine species owing to oil-spill have a long-term impact on these coastal regions. Rising deepwater explorations along with increasing energy demand are anticipated to boost offshore prospects in arctic regions such as Alaska, Russian Federation, and Norway.

Onshore post-oil spill management accounted for over 68% of the market in 2015. Various incidents of well blowouts, and pipeline failures, especially in the U.S., Canada, Norway, China, & Mexico are the major attribute for the large market penetration over the past few years.

Regional Insights

North America was the largest pre-oil spill management market in 2015.The region is anticipated to gain market share on the account of rising oil & gas E&P activities. Oil spill incidents in the region such as Marathon Oil, Exxon Valdez, and Deepwater Horizon have also resulted in the formulation of the stringent regulatory framework for onshore as well as offshore oil & gas production activities. 

Asia Pacific pre-oil spill management market was worth USD 16.15 billion in the year 2015. The market in the region is expected to grow at an anticipated CAGR of 3.9% from 2016 to 2025.Presently, majority of oil and gas exploration and production activities of the region is centered in India, China, and South Korea. Encouraging government initiatives and regulations for instance tax benefits and other financial aid for discovering hydrocarbon reserves is anticipated to push industry growth in these countries over the next nine years.

Some of the biggest oil spill incidents in the past few years include those of Xingang Port spill in China (2010), ExxonMobil spill in Nigeria (2010), Lac-Megantic derailment in Canada (2013), and Trans-Israel pipeline (2014). Stringent environmental regulations coupled with large-scale spillage are the major factor responsible for the deployment of post-oil spill management techniques over past few years.

Competitive Insights

The oil spill management industry is fragmented in nature with major companies striving for market leadership. The market has been witnessing M&A’s and strategic alliances lately. Major companies operating in global oil spill management industry include American Green Ventures Inc., Skim Oil Inc, OMI Environmental Solutions, Spill Response Services, Osprey Spill Control, Fender, and Oil Spill Response Limited. 

Report Scope 

Segments covered in the report

This report forecasts revenue growth at global, regional & country levels and provides an analysis on the industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2014 to 2025. For the purpose of this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global oil spill management market on the basis of technology, response technique, application and region: 

• Technology Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Pre-oil spill

    • Double-hull

    • Pipeline leak detection

    • Blow-out preventers

    • Others

  • Post-oil spill

    • Mechanical

    • Chemical

    • Biological

    • Others

• Post-Oil Spill Management Response Technique Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Mechanical containment and recovery

    • Containment booms

      • Hard booms

      • Sorbent booms

      • Fire booms

      • Others

    • Skimmers

      • Weir skimmers

      • Oleophilic skimmers

      • Non-oleophilic skimmers

      • Others

    • Sorbent

    • Others

  • Chemical recovery

    • Dispersing agents

    • Gelling agents

    • Others

  • Biological recovery

  • Others

• Application Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • Pre-oil spill

    • Onshore

    • Offshore

  • Post-oil spill

    • Onshore

    • Offshore

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Million, 2014 - 2025)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

    • Mexico

  • Europe

    • UK

    • Russia

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • Japan

  • Central & South America

  • Middle East & Africa