Page 14 - ITAtube Journal 1 2023

Market information
Figure 15: Global LNG Exports Hit Record High in 2023 Source: Oilprice.com, Bloomberg
extends its footprint in gas exploration planning to acquire the largest US based shale gas producer. Shell intends to widen its footprint in oil and gas as well. Anyhow currently, there is no evidence that the international oil and gas producers are increasing supply to capture market prices.
Efforts to reduce dependence on fossil fuels can hardly be successful in the short term and can only contribute to decoupling in the medium term. For our pipe indus- try, however, this means that high energy prices can be expected in the future as well - prices around 80-90 USD/Bbl. are most probable. The investments to secure the energy supply will keep the demand and prices for tubular products high.
Another driving factor is the record high global LNG export rate. Figure 15 shows
for the US and Australia how record high LNG production became. Consequently the demand for OCTG products remain high and it eases the energy crisis especially in Europe to compensate the stopped Russian pipeline gas supplies.
In addition to exploration activities, the need to build new pipeline routes has also increased since the ban on Russian pipe- lines to Europe and the strategy towards hydrogen to replace natural gas. In the wake of the attacks on the Northstream pipelines, which released very large quanti- ties of methane as an environmental load, it can be expected that the safety stand- ards for pipelines will become even more demanding. This development offers the manufacturers of large-diameter pipes > 406 mm OD opportunities for interesting business. Globally a large quantity of pipe- lines is planned or announced to be built in the coming years up to 2027 (Figure 16).
In this context it is remarkable that most of the contractors building the worldwide pipeline projects are headquartered in China or India.
The global construction market with about 5% of the global tube market presents another opportunity for pipe manufac- turers with growth potential. The market penetration is quite unevenly distributed in
ITAtube Journal May 2023
Figure 16: Global planned and announced pipeline length by key countries (2023-2027)
Source: Midstream Analytics, GlobalData Oil and Gas
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Figure 17: GDP - Growth in selected Regions 1980 until 2028
Source: IWF, Statista