Oil and Gas Upstream Activities Market Report 2026

The oil and gas upstream activities market size has grown strongly in recent years. It will grow from $4.84 trillion in 2025 to $5.11 trillion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.5%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to global energy demand growth, expansion of oil reserves exploration, technological advancements in drilling, rise in offshore projects, industrial fuel consumption.

The oil and gas upstream activities market size is expected to see strong growth in the next few years. It will grow to $6.43 trillion in 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.9%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to energy security initiatives, exploration in untapped basins, digital transformation of upstream operations, demand for hydrocarbons, enhanced recovery investments. Major trends in the forecast period include increasing investment in exploration activities, growth in offshore and deepwater drilling, rising adoption of digital oilfield technologies, expansion of horizontal and directional drilling, focus on production optimization techniques.

The rising demand for energy is expected to drive the growth of the oil and gas upstream activities market in the coming years. Energy refers to the power sources used to operate machinery, equipment, and tools required for various processes. Oil and gas upstream activities include the exploration, extraction, and production of hydrocarbons, which are essential energy sources supporting global economies, industrial growth, transportation, and daily consumer needs. For example, in April 2023, the Energy Information Administration, a US-based government agency, projected that energy usage in the U.S. industrial sector would increase by 5% to 32% between 2022 and 2050. This growing energy demand continues to propel the expansion of the oil and gas upstream activities market.

The growth of the oil and gas upstream activities market is expected to be driven by the increasing number of oil and gas production wells. These wells are drilled to great depths into the Earth to extract oil and natural gas from underground reservoirs, playing a pivotal role in oil and gas upstream activities. As of July 2023, the International Energy Agency has reported a global total of 55,000 newly completed oil and gas production wells. This substantial increase in production wells contributes significantly to the growth of the oil and gas upstream activities market.

Major companies operating in the oil and gas upstream activities market are focusing on technological advancements such as 4D seismic imaging powered by high-performance computing (HPC) to enhance reservoir characterization, improve well placement accuracy, and reduce exploration risk. 4D seismic imaging entails acquiring seismic surveys of the same subsurface area at different time intervals and using advanced computing to detect changes in reservoir properties over time, providing a dynamic understanding of fluid movement and rock behavior compared with traditional 3D seismic imaging, which offers only static snapshots. For instance, in March 2025, ExxonMobil, a US-based integrated energy company, launched Discovery 6, an advanced HPC system designed to power 4D seismic imaging and elastic Full Wavefield Inversion (eFWI) workflows across its upstream exploration operations. Discovery 6 integrates 4,032 NVIDIA Grace Hopper superchips with energy-efficient direct liquid cooling, delivering up to four times the computational performance of its predecessor, enabling seismic processing to be completed in weeks instead of months, and improving reservoir management and well placement.

Major companies operating in the oil and gas upstream activities market are Iraq Ministry of Oil, Gazprom PAO, Saudi Aramco, National Iranian Oil Company, Royal Dutch Shell, Rosneft, Equinor, Gazprom Neft, Chevron, Schlumberger Ltd., Halliburton Company, Baker Hughes Company, National Oilwell Varco Inc., Weatherford International plc, TechnipFMC plc, Seadrill Limited, Helmerich & Payne Inc., Precision Drilling Corporation, Nabors Industries Ltd., Patterson-UTI Energy Inc., Superior Energy Services Inc., RPC Inc., Expro Group, Aker Solutions ASA, Core Laboratories N.V., Tidewater Inc., Bristow Group Inc., Oceaneering International Inc., Archer Limited, GulfMark Offshore Inc., ProPetro Holding Corp., Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc., Transocean Ltd., Pacific Drilling S.A., Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc., Noble Corporation plc.

Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the oil & gas upstream activities market in 2025. North America was the second largest region in the oil & gas upstream activities market. The regions covered in the oil and gas upstream activities market report are Asia-Pacific, South East Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa. The countries covered in the oil and gas upstream activities market report are China, India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, Bangladesh, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, New Zealand, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland, Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Iran, Turkey, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa.

The oil and gas upstream activities market includes revenues earned by entities by onshore drilling services, offshore drilling services, well maintenance, exploration and well developing. The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. Only goods and services traded between entities or sold to end consumers are included.

The market value is defined as the revenues that enterprises gain from the sale of goods and/or services within the specified market and geography through sales, grants, or donations in terms of the currency (in USD unless otherwise specified).

The revenues for a specified geography are consumption values that are revenues generated by organizations in the specified geography within the market, irrespective of where they are produced. It does not include revenues from resales along the supply chain, either further along the supply chain or as part of other products.

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