Hydrate Inhibitors Market Analysis

Hydrate Inhibitors Market Overview

The global hydrate inhibitors market was valued at USD  12,772.7 million in 2021 and is projected to reach USD  21,561.8 million by 2030 at a CAGR of 6.27%.

Hydrate inhibitors are chemical substances designed to control the formation of hydrates during natural gas production. Hydrate inhibitors help to avoid problems due to hydrate formation such as hydrate plugs and line blockages and prevent the formation of gas hydrates at lower temperature and high-pressure conditions. There are two types of hydrate inhibitors, namely thermodynamic hydrate inhibitors (THIs) and low dosage hydrate inhibitors (LDHIs). Low dosage hydrate inhibitors control the formation of hydrates and thus help to manage flow in pipelines in an extremely low volume, unlike that are required for thermodynamic inhibition.

The global hydrate inhibitors market is projected to witness healthy growth during the forecast period, 2022–2030. The increasing demand for low-dosage hydrate inhibitors owing to its performance characteristics is projected to fuel the growth of the global hydrate inhibitors market during the review period. The increasing advancements in gas hydrate drillings in recent days owing to the depletion of conventional oil & gas reserves across the world are also contributing to the growth of the global hydrate inhibitor market. Furthermore, the increasing investments in oil & gas exploration in the developing economies are expected to create lucrative opportunities for the players operating in the global hydrate inhibitors market during the forecast period.

COVID-19 Impact on the Hydrate Inhibitors Market:

COVID-19 has affected various markets severely while some markets got a boom due to its occurrence. Even during the pandemic, the whole world was using fuel as before. There was a moderate effect of the outbreak of a deadly virus and the imposition of a complete lockdown around the globe. Moreover, the value of hydrate inhibitors depends on the production of crude oil and natural gas. Uses of natural gas and products of crude oil do not affect the hydrate inhibitors market directly as the hydrate inhibitors serve their purpose during the process of production. And demand for fuel is running high in the world. The COVID-19 outbreak has negatively impacted the production of global hydrate inhibitors market and exposed various challenges for oil & gas industry. The production of hydrate inhibitors declined amidst the COVID-19 pandemic as the market players had to shut production facilities or operate the facilities below the optimal production capacities to prevent the spread of the COVID-19. However, Tier-1 market players have continued operations at their production facilities.

Since the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been massive pressure on the chemical distribution supply chain. Ports across several countries suffer from intense congestion, causing cargo ships to encounter substantial delays in unloading cargo and, finally, supplying products within a certain period. Hydrate inhibitors occupies a small but lucrative niche of the global chemical industry, a closely interlinked market that depends on supply dependability.

Market Dynamics

• Increasing demand for low-dosage hydrate inhibitors in the oil & gas industry: The oil & gas industry is one of the major contributors to the growth of the global economy. Large oil and gas complexes have been built across the globe equipped with a large number of technologies for processes such as drilling, engineering, exploitation of oil and gas production, water, oil and gas fluids processing, and transportation. However, the combination of constituents of crude oil and natural gas can lead to calamitous consequences. For instance, a combination of many additives of crude oil or natural gas with water leads to formation of hydrate, which can result in outbreaks or major accidents. Therefore, the prevention of hydrate precipitation at minimum operating costs is of paramount importance for the safety of the oil & gas fields.

• Environmental issues associated with the use of Anti-agglomerate (AA) LDHI: Anti-agglomerated (AA) LDHIs prevent hydrate agglomeration and blockage, prevent the formation of small hydrate particles, are suitable for transient flow regimes, and have the advantage of the highest degree of subcooling. However, they need a condensate phase and may need downstream treatment. The AA LDHI chemistries have negatively impacted downstream separation processes, which resulted in increasing production. This can create difficulties in maintaining compliance with the produced-water quality standard for discharge into the environment.

• Increasing investments in oil & gas exploration activities in developing economies: The increasing oil & gas production and extraction activities in the developing countries of Asia-Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, and Latin America such as India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Mexico, and Brazil on account of the rising demand for petroleum products, fuel, and energy in numerous applications is likely to drive the growth of the oil & gas industry and thus, the demand for hydrate inhibitors.

• Requirement of high dosage of thermodynamic inhibitors: The thermodynamic inhibitors are effective hydrate inhibitors available in the market but require high concentration depending upon the severity of the condition. As the degree of subcooling increases, so does the quantity of thermodynamic inhibitors dosage requirement. Most of the new exploration projects in deep-water environments are challenged with a high degree of subcooling.

Segmentation

By Type

• Thermodynamic inhibitors (THIs)


• Low-dosage hydrate inhibitors (LDHIs)

By Application

• Onshore operations


• Offshore operations

By Region

• North America


• Europe


• Asia-Pacific


• Latin America


• Middle East & Africa

Regional Analysis

The global hydrate inhibitors market is studied across the five key regions, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa.

The increasing demand for low-dosage hydrate inhibitors owing to its performance characteristics is projected to fuel the growth of the global hydrate inhibitors market during the review period. The increasing advancements in gas hydrate drillings in recent days owing to the depletion of conventional oil & gas reserves across the world are also contributing to the growth of the global hydrate inhibitor market. However, the high dosage requirement of thermodynamic inhibitors and availability of depressurization method for controlling hydrate formation are challenging the market growth of the hydrate inhibitor market. Also, the environmental issues associated with the use of anti-agglomerate (AA) LDHI is the restraining factor to the growth of the product market during the forecast period. Moreover, due to shifting trend toward the use and production of renewable sources of energy and renewable products, the global hydrate inhibitor market is expected to witness growth impetus during the forecast period.

The hydrate inhibitors market is studied for five regions, namely, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and the Middle East & Africa. Among these regions, North America accounted for the largest market share of 46% in 2021.

Competitive Landscape

The global hydrate inhibitors market is characterized by the presence of many global and regional vendors. The market is highly competitive with all the players competing to gain maximum market share. Rapid progressions in oilfield processes and increasing shale gas operations and well intervention activities across the globe, namely drilling, cementing, natural gas production, and others, along with frequent changes in government regulations, and growing application of low-dosage hydrate inhibitors in subsea systems are the key factors that are likely to boost the global market growth. The vendors compete based on cost, product quality, and mainly on the availability of products. It is crucial for the vendors to offer cost-effective and high-quality hydrate inhibitors to compete in the market.

The growth of the market players is dependent on market and economic conditions, government regulations, and industrial development. Thus, the players should focus on expanding the production capacity, enhancing their services, and innovating in new technology to deliver supplier quality products to meet the demand. Schlumberger Limited (US), Baker Hughes, a GE Company LLC (US), BASF SE (Germany), Halliburton (US), Ecolab (US), Huntsman International LLC (US), Ashland (US), ARKEMA (France), Evonik Industries AG (Germany), Finoric LLC (US), Omni industrial solutions (US), and Tetra Technologies, Inc. (US) are the major companies in the market at the present that are competing in terms of quality, price, and availability.

Report Overview:

The Hydrate inhibitors market is segmented by Type, application, and region in the report. In terms of insights, this report has focused on various levels of analysis such as market dynamics, value chain analysis, Porter's five forces, competitive landscape, and company profiles—all of which comprise and discuss views on the global Hydrate inhibitors emerging and fast-growing segments, regions, and countries.

Objectives of the Study

• To get a comprehensive overview of the global hydrate inhibitors market


• To get wide-ranging information about the key factors driving the market and market opportunities


• To gain information regarding the key players in the industry, their product portfolio, strategies, and key developments


• To gain insights about the key country/region in which the market is growing

Intended Audience

• Industrial sector


• Pharmaceutical sector


• Oil and gas sector


• Agrochemical industries