Geophysical Software Service Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Software Type (On-Premises and Software as a Service (SaaS)), and By Application (Oil & Gas, Mineral & Mining, Water Exploration, and Agriculture) and Regional Forecast, 2021-2028

The global Geophysical Software Service market size was USD 9.05 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow from USD 10.44 billion in 2021 to USD 25.43 billion in 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of 13.6% during the forecast period 2021-2028. The global impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented and staggering, with Geophysical Software Service witnessing a negative demand shock across all regions amid the pandemic. Based on our analysis, the market exhibited a decline of -22.5% in 2020 as compared to the average year-on-year growth during 2017-2019. The sudden rise in CAGR is attributable to this market’s demand and growth returning to pre-pandemic levels once the pandemic is over.

Geophysical Software Service are fully incorporated 2D and 3D seismic interpretation systems that offer a complete range of attribute analysis, fit-for-purpose interpretation abilities, as well as mapping tools. This software helps to fast computation, and real-time visualization of seismic data, efficient synthetic modeling, manual and automatic horizon picking modes, and an extensive set of horizon operations, a wide range of fault picking modes, contour & color density maps of the time, depth, velocity of seismic attributes.

Restricted Investment Prospects amid COVID-19 to Hamper Market Growth

The global outbreak of the COVID-19 viral infection has considerably impacted various industries. This coronavirus pandemic has resulted in halted productions and trade globally. Companies are prioritizing spending on technology and services that are deemed more important than initiatives aimed at growth or transformation as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the effects of the global economic recession. Companies have entered into an emergency cost optimization phase, which means that investments will be minimized and prioritized on operations that keep the business running, which will be the top priority for most organizations through 2020.

However, many governments have presented substantial plans to manage the COVID-19. Tactics are conscripted to allow companies to endure operations with monetary aids efficiently. For instance, in March 2020, the U.S. government introduced the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act under the law PL 116–136, providing above USD 2 trillion worth of economic relief packages for employees, families, and businesses.

As a part of the package, the federal administration introduced a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) in collaboration with the Department of the Treasury to fund about eight weeks of payroll costs such as mortgages, financial benefits, utilities, and rent. The program enables workforces operating small industries with the help of around USD 659 billion to manage job retention and function of other expenditures. It also includes a dedicated scheme to ease receiving loans and payback conditions, enabling lenders and borrowers to conduct regular operations effectively.

LATEST TRENDS

Technological Developments in Software Services to Shape New Industry Trends

The geophysical industry has provided significant value to the oil and gas industry and continues to pit with advanced solutions to the E&P sector. The development in technologies, specifically in the mining industry, is heavily dominated by data and digital technology, resulting in improved productivity, safety, and environmental outcomes. Thus, evolving digital technologies allow better and faster decisions by making relevant data available anywhere and just in time.

The advancement in technology such as sensors, mapping, and monitoring technologies allows for real-time environmental and operational insights. For example, FGPS has introduced their new 3D binning software, SeisBin, designed to make visualizations and report easy cost-effective analyses. Moreover, research into sensors, the software has focused on developing modeling and inversion methods such as Ground-penetrating Radar (GPR), Gravity, Magnetic and Electromagnetic Gradiometry and their applications to a broad range of geophysics.

The rapid expansion of information and technology such as machine learning applications and cloud migrations are also becoming major points of interest and offer potential opportunities to revolutionize geoscience workflows. For instance, the CGG GeoSoftware solution has developed a machine learning ecosystem that provides open access to the data in geophysical applications and is increasing across various aspects of geoscience projects and their workflow. 

DRIVING FACTORS

Increasing Adoption of Digital Transformation to Drive Geophysical Software Service Market

The oil and gas industry has begun adopting digital technologies focusing on a better understanding of reservoir resources, the potential of production, improving health and safety, and boosting the operational efficiency at the oil fields. In addition, many companies are making incremental performance improvements through the selective use of business and digital technologies, which is likely to drive the market growth for geophysical software Services.

The emergence of new techniques in geophysics coupled with the ability to process and analyze the data rapidly and support the real-time decision and execution has shifted the focus of various major players toward a sustainable energy future. For instance, in May 2021, Geoteric, a leading provider of geoscience software and services, has delivered a paradigm shift in seismic interpretation, allowing the user to fine-tune the 3D Artificial Intelligence (AI) fault interpretation network's ineffective workflow and customize results for the geoscientists.

Along with this, in October 2019, around 7,000 geoscientists were gathered at the Society of the Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) International Exposition annual meeting in San Antonio, Texas. The conference focuses on the latest technological innovations in geophysics. In addition, they highlighted the applications of artificial intelligence through machine learning and data analytics in geophysics. This factor is likely to drive the Geophysical Software Service market growth during the forecast period. 

Rising Focus on Optimizing Cost of Process Drives Market Growth

The development in technologies such as cloud, artificial intelligence, big data, and analytics drives the market growth rate for this market and has immense potential in the exploration of the oil and gas industry. Technologies like cloud computing have led to improving business agility by breaking down business functions. Big data and analytics are helping with innovation by supporting key players in analyzing and structuring the data from disparate sources and generating real-time insights. However, the emergence of new techniques in geophysics inevitably leads to an increase in the use of terms related to these techniques.

The advancement in digital and cloud capabilities has allowed the operators to shift their cost base from expensive, static instrumentation to insightful and decision-making analytics, resulting in improved reliability, increasing flexibility and unlocking innovation. For example, Petrosys Ltd is one of the leading producers of geoscience products. The company has developed a Petrosys Pro software that manages, edits, and analyzes the underlying information from most popular exploration, production, and GIS data sources, which is further used to search for oil and gas, improving discovery rates, and reduces the operational and production costs.

RESTRAINING FACTORS

Cyberattacks and Data Privacy Associated with Geophysical Equipment to Hamper Market

Geophysical devices such as seismic monitoring devices are linked to the internet, which is vulnerable to cyber-attacks and can disrupt data processing and data collection. Issues like non-encryption of data, unsecured protocols, poor authentication led to various security breaches. In addition, modern seismic is being implemented with IoT devices that connect and exchange data with other devices through the internet and may cause threats to the equipment and potential risk of data leaking which information technology professionals generally find in IoT applications.

Industries like mining, oil, and gas are adopting different operational technology, including hardware and software, to increase centralization. This convergence of the operational technology platforms allows greater access to the components and devices which are primarily targeted by cybercriminals. In addition to that, the utilization of emerging technologies like cloud computing, big data, and analytics has aroused complex security challenges and are in light of the cyber risks.  However, protection facilities such as cyber espionage campaigns are geared towards ensuring access to the latest technical knowledge and intelligence so they can maintain a competitive advantage and thrive in a market-driven global economy.

SEGMENTATION

By Software Type Analysis

Software as a Service (SaaS) Segment to Grow at a High Pace Backed by Usage in Various Industrial Applications

Based on the software type, the market is classified into on-premise and Software as a Service (SaaS).

The Software as a Service segment accounted for the major share of the market in 2020. Oil & gas companies are constantly focusing on areas to cut costs and optimize operations.  Software like Software as a service (SaaS) provides companies greater operational efficiency, better business agility, and helps transition their employees to the modern energy workforce. 

The on-premises segment constitutes a key share of the market. On-premises software requires an enterprise to purchase a license or a copy of the software to use it. One of the major advantages of on-premises software is that it doesn’t require users to have an internet connection to access data, provides greater security, and also offers control over server hardware.

By Application Analysis

Oil & Gas Segment Accounted for Largest Market Share

Based on the application, the global market is segmented into oil & gas, mineral & mining, water exploration, and agriculture.

The oil and gas sector accounted for the largest geophysical software service market share in the market in 2020, owing to the demand for seismic surveys and land-based survey that helps to obtain accurate and precise mappings of hydrocarbons. With the increasingly depleting sources of oil and gas, the necessity for finding new sources for hydrocarbons is immense and valuable. With this, the demand for services is expected to increase in the oil and gas industry.

Mineral & mining is also the key segment of the market. Demand for clean energy such as solar and wind energy storage systems and lithium-ion batteries increases in a carbon-constrained environment. This factor is also expected to result in huge demand for a wide range of minerals and metals.

REGIONAL INSIGHTS

The market has been classified into North America, Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, Europe, and South America. 

North America registered for a 30.3% share of the market in 2020 and also dominated the global market the same year. The market in North America is anticipated to grow considerably during the forecast period, owing to the rising investments in exploration activities. For instance, On June 07, 2021, TGS has partnered up with PGS to commence the acquisition of the Cape Anguille 3D program, which covers the existing lease blocks and open acreage in the perspective of the Orphan Basin.  The Orphan Basin has potential Cretaceous and Tertiary infill depocenters and includes long offset acquisition between Kirchhoff 3D PSTM volume and PGS’s Ranform Titan by utilizing the Geostreamer technology.

The Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing market for the global market of geophysical software services, owing to the rising exploration activities in developing countries. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2020, mineral exploration expenditure rose 11.91%, from USD 72.7 million to USD 683.3 million.

The European region is also growing at a rapid pace, due to the rising oil & gas, and mining exploration activities across the region. According to the World Gold Council, the gold mines of Russia saw an 8% increase in production in 2019. Thus, the rise in E&P in the oil & gas and mining sector by using geophysical devices is paving the growth for this market.

Latin America comprises the minimum share of the market in 2020, however, countries such as Brazil and Mexico are heavily investing in the exploration of hydrocarbon reserves. For instance, On May 10, 2021, PGS delivered Geostreamer X data during an ongoing Campos Basin program. The product offers a step-change in data quality for complex geological regimes by combining multi-sensor broadband fidelity with long offset and azimuth-rich illumination.

The market in the Middle East & Africa is projected to augment at a rapid pace due to the rapid developments in technology in this region. African countries are attracting foreign investments across all economic sectors, due to factors, such as growing population, regulatory environment, tax favorability, stable political system, and proximity to key markets.

KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

CGG Emphasizes Extending Product Lines and Consuming Its Channels to Market New Products

CGG is a geophysical services company founded in 1931. CGG provides geological, geophysical, and reservoir capabilities to customers primarily from the global oil and gas industry. The company's product portfolio consists of geophysical equipment, acquisition, and geology, geophysics & reservoir. Headquartered in Paris, France CGG Group widely operates across the region, including the Middle East & Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America. Major companies operating in the market are TGS, Earth Science Analytics AS, Explor, and Emerson.

• On June 08, 2021, CGG launched the GeoSoftware 11.0 version for its extensive portfolio of reservoir characterization and petrophysical interpretation software solutions. The software solution leverages enhanced machine learning capabilities, including WellGen, a new Hampson Russell application that facilitates deep learning workflows linking geological and geophysical interpretations.


• On July 01, 2020, CGG GeoSoftware collaborated with Alibaba Cloud to deploy its proprietary geoscience software solutions on the Alibaba cloud platform. The collaboration will expand the cloud capability of Chinese oil and gas exploration and production key players and reap the benefits of digital technology.

LIST OF KEY COMPANIES PROFILED:

• CGG (France)


• TGS (U.S.)


• Earth Science Analytics AS (Norway)


• Explor (Canada)


• Emerson (U.S.)


• Fugro (Netherlands)


• PGS (Norway)


• Schlumberger Limited (U.S.)


• Geophysical Software Solutions Pty. Limited (India)


• SGS SA (Switzerland)

KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS:

• June 2021 - On June 15, 2021, TGS and Earth Science Analytics announced their collaboration on expanding their Seismic and Well Data offering and promoting further data-driven geoscience innovations. The collaboration focus on delivering a new suite of seismic derivation product to provide enhanced exploration insights in the area from E&P industry through artificial intelligence.


• September 2020 - On September 09, 2020, Explor, Halliburton, and AWS has achieved a breakthrough with seismic data processing in cloud applications. During the project, Explor ran a seismic process, a DecisonSpace 365 cloud application powered by iEnergy on AWS, and optimized the cloud solutions by reducing the total processing timelines by 90%.

REPORT COVERAGE

The global geophysical software services market research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the industry by offering valuable insights, facts, industry-related information, and historical data. Several methodologies and approaches have been adopted to make meaningful assumptions and views to formulate the market research report. Furthermore, the report covers a detailed analysis and information as per market segments, including Software Type, applications, and regions, helping our readers to get a comprehensive overview of the global industry.

REPORT SCOPE & SEGMENTATION