Oil & gas industry set for record valve expenditure

The upstream oil and gas industry is estimated to spend more than $10 billion (€7 billion) for valves in a single year for the first time, according to analysis published by the McIlvaine Company.

The analysis appears in Industrial Valves: World Markets, recently published by the company.

In 2015, expenditure will come to around $10.3 billion. Valves purchased for oil and gas extraction will include those used in unconventional extraction, such as from subsea shale and oil sands.

The forecast also includes valves used in LNG and gas-to-liquids plants.

Leading the market is the Middle East, with the US shale gas and oil boom and the Canadian tar sands investments pushing North America into second place.

Large numbers of valves are necessary to operate new LNG and gas-to-liquid plants under construction in the wake of the US shale boom.

A large portion of spending is directed at control of water and wastewater, in part due to the extensive valving required for hydraulic fracturing processes.

Refineries are not included in these forecasts, though investments in refinery valves are on the up due to the lower quality crudes being extracted in North America.