Global downstream asset maintenance expenditure is expected to total $322 billion between 2015 and 2019, reflecting an increase of 12 per cent when compared to the previous five-year period, a report said.

In 2014 spend totalled $63 billion for the world’s global downstream population of approximately 13,000 facilities, explained the report entitled “World Downstream Asset Maintenance Forecast 2015-2019” from Douglas-Westwood, a  leading provider of market research and consulting services to the energy industry.

Over the next five years a 4.8 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) is likely with spend reaching almost $71 billion in 2019, the report said.

“A minor drop in expenditure is expected in 2015, due to industry-wide price deflation of equipment and services and budget tightening from integrated operators across their upstream and downstream operations,” said Kathryn Symes, author of the report.

“However, the reduction in expenditure is expected to be short lived as the aging existing asset population as well as a number of new installations drive the overall growth.

“North America will remain the largest market, accounting for 35 per cent of global expenditure between 2015 and 2019. The region’s large, ageing downstream population requires a high level of maintenance, particularly as the level of regulation is relatively high, further driving the amount of maintenance services required to ensure downstream plants meet standards.

 “The majority of forecast expenditure will be attributable to Asset Services, accounting for 72 per cent, with the remaining 28 per cent consisting of Asset Integrity services. Of this, Integrity Services and Electrical & Instrumentation (E&I) services dominate across all regional markets,” she added.

The new edition of Douglas-Westwood’s World Downstream Asset Maintenance Market Forecast analyses the demand for asset services and asset integrity across refineries, petrochemical, gas processing and LNG plants. – TradeArabia News Service