Lead Angle: Targeting markets high and low

With oil prices around half of their high level of about $100 a barrel from 2011 to 2014, the oil and gas industry is in the doldrums. One exception to this slump, however, appears to be the hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, market.

“The oil and gas industry as a whole is not rock ‘n’ rolling, but the frack side is,” said Al Zaitoon, president of Industrial Sales Group LLC, Arlington, Texas, an independent rep company. “If you’re involved in that, you’re doing pretty good.”

A forecast analysis by Seattle-based MarketsandMarkets Inc., a publisher of market research reports, estimates the global fracking market will grow to $72.6 billion by 2019, from $41.5 billion in 2014, at a compound annual growth rate of more than 11.8 percent. “The relentless depletion of onshore and shallow-water fields has compelled oil companies to focus on deep-water and unconventional onshore areas where various hydraulic fracturing services are required in order to produce the field,” the company reports.

But as Zaitoon commented, “Offshore exploration is superexpensive.”

The vast majority of fracking occurs in North America, the forecast states. But that doesn’t limit the geographic reach of manufacturers that serve the market. Zaitoon said about 50 countries have major shale deposits. This list includes China, and it’s no surprise that country is expected to exponentially grow its fracking activities.