China to be top market for onshore seismic in the next two years; global recovery to wait until 2022

China to be top market for onshore seismic in the next two years; global recovery to wait until 2022

The global onshore seismic market has had a devastating 2020 with a 27% slump in purchase value. Next year is set to be even more painful year as operators' budget cuts will continue to strain the services sector, before a projected recovery in 2022, a Rystad Energy report shows. China will be a bright exemption to the trend as it will lead global purchases in the next two years, starting with a projected 12% demand boost already in 2021.Global onshore seismic purchases are expected to fall to $3.9 billion in 2020 from almost $5.4 billion in 2019. Rystad Energy forecasts the overall decline to continue into 2021, with purchases sliding to $3.2 billion before they start a recovery to $3.7 billion in 2022 and further in following years.Interest in onshore exploration picked up in 2019, as evident from the number of lease rounds that were held and the onshore acreage that was awarded. This year, though, onshore license awards through October have dropped by two-thirds to 106,000 square kilometers in acreage from 316,000 square kilometers during the same period last year. The largest onshore acreage awarded was in India, which amounted to