Asia-Pacific Intelligent Pigging Market

APAC Intelligent Pigging Market Analysis

The Asia-Pacific Intelligent Pigging Market is expected to register a CAGR of greater than 6.52% during the forecast period.

The market was negatively impacted by COVID-19 in 2020. Currently, the market has reached pre-pandemic levels.

• Over the short term, the Asia-Pacific intelligent pigging market is expected to register significant growth due to the increasing demand for pipeline pigging services in the region and the high growth of oil and gas production.
• On the other hand, intelligent pigging is not applicable to unpigged pipelines, which impedes the market growth.
• Nevertheless, the growing energy consumption in the region, distinctly in developing countries, is propelled by the advancing steps of urbanization.
• Due to the upcoming oil and gas pipeline projects, China is predicted to have the highest share in the market studied.

APAC Intelligent Pigging Market Trends

Ultrasonic Pigs Expected to Witness Significant Growth

• An ultrasonic pig uses ultrasounds to detect the thickness changes in the pipe wall. Ultrasonic pigs are equipped with a transducer, which perpendicularly transmits signals to the pipe wall surface and receives signals from both the pipeline's internal and external surfaces. Furthermore, the echo received from the signals can be used to determine the pipeline wall's thickness. Ultrasonic pigs provide an absolute measurement of defect depth in the pipe and can measure metal losses in much thicker pipes than is possible with magnetic flux leakage technology.
• Ultrasonic pigs can be used in a wide range of pipeline sizes, ranging from 4 inches up to 56 inches. The technology is generally used for liquid pipelines but can also be used for gas pipelines with the help of a couplant. The pipelines developed in the East-Asian region are 58,800km in length. As of 2021, the length is expected to extend even more due to the demand in upcoming projects.
• For example, in 2022, the construction of the 580 kilometers pipeline in Western Australia started. The USD 460 million worth of pipelines may transport natural gas from the Perth basin to resources projects in the state's Goldfield. The Northern Goldfield Interconnect is expected to be a part of the 2,690-km gas pipeline network in Western Australia and significantly increase the volume of gas transported inland.
• The ultrasonic segment is also expected to grow in the near future due to the technological developments made in the sector. As an example, in January 2022, Dacon Inspection Technologies, the Thailand-based company, made new advancements in the ultrasonic in-line inspection fleet used for pipelines, which increases the inspection data accuracy as well as the inspection of non-ferrous materials such as metals and plastics like High-Density Poly Ethylene (HDPE) pipelines.
• Such developments are expected to drive the technology market in the region in a fast-paced manner.

China Expected to Dominate the Market

• China is the largest crude oil and natural gas producer in the Asia-Pacific region and accounted for around 50% and 26% of the total crude oil and natural gas production in the region in 2021. In 2021, 198.98 million tons of crude oil were produced, an increase of 2.4% over the previous year, a rise of 4.0% over 2020, and an average increase of 2.0% over the two years.
• The country envisaged consistent growth in the pipeline network established due to the increasing energy consumption. The total length of the operational oil pipelines in the country was recorded as 25,271.3 km as of June 2022, the highest among all the Asian countries. The network is bound to grow more due to the upcoming pipeline projects in the country.
• For instance, the construction of the No.4 pipeline of China's West-to-East transmission project started in September 2022. The pipeline was designed to lift the annual carrying capacity of the system to more than 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) after linking with the completed No.3 and No.2 pipelines. The No.4 gas pipeline is expected to be 3,340km long, from Wuqiacounty in Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region to Zhongwei in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
• In addition, in February 2022, Russia agreed to a 30-year contract to supply gas to China via a new pipeline. It may settle the recent gas sales in Euros, bolstering an energy alliance with Beijing amid Moscow's strained ties with the West over Ukraine and other issues. Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, agreed to supply Chinese state energy major CNPC with 10 billion cubic meters of gas annually.
• Such developments are expected to visibly steer the market in China more than any other country in the region.

APAC Intelligent Pigging Industry Overview

The Asia-Pacific intelligent pigging market is moderately fragmented. Some of the key players in the market (in no particular order) include Rosen Group, NDT Global Services Ltd, SGA SA, Baker Hughes Company, and Penspen Limited.

APAC Intelligent Pigging Market Leaders

APAC Intelligent Pigging Market News

• August 2022: ROSEN Group, one of the European in-line inspection technology leaders, bagged a contract to provide pipeline in-line inspection services for Petronas in Malaysia for five consecutive years. The contract may utilize magnetic flux leakages (MFL) and ultrasonic technology for the inspection.
• In May 2022, an investment of USD 6.6 million was made in SmartpipeTechnologies by Enbridge Inc. to develop innovative pipeline technology that can enhance pipeline infrastructure's versatility and safety. As part of Smartpipe'spatented technology, a high-strength, composite internal pipeline liner is pulled into existing pipelines to enhance their structural integrity and provide improved monitoring through a fiber-optic embedded cable allowing for immediate pipeline monitoring and leak detection.