India Thermic Fluid Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The India Thermic Fluid Market is estimated to be at 40.06 kilotons in 2021 and is expected to register a CAGR of over 4.5% during the forecast period (2022-2027).

The market is negatively impacted by COVID-19 in 2020. Considering the situation, COVID-19 had declared as a pandemic, and the Indian governments had imposed a complete lockdown. Owing to such a scenario, various end-user sectors such as chemicals, oil and gas, etc. got negatively impacted, as the thermic fluid has key applications (as a heat carrier) in the heat transfer systems, employed in these sectors. Thereby, all such factors had reduced the demand for thermic fluid in the country. However, the demand from the pharmaceutical industry has increased, majorly, due to enhanced demand for various drugs during the pandemic. Moreover, the pharmaceutical industry in the country is likely to rise in the coming years, which will further enhance the usage of thermic fluid for respective heat transfer applications at manufacturing plants of the sector. For instance, the Indian Economic Survey 2021 expects the domestic pharmaceutical industry to triple over the next decade. Indian pharmaceutical industry is expected to reach USD 65 billion by 2024 and reach USD 120-130 billion by 2030.

Key Highlights
Over the short term, extensive demand from the oil and gas sector? and increasing use in concentrated solar power? are expected to drive the market’s growth.
On the flipside, explosion hazards posed by Heat Thermic Fluids (HTFs) and unfavorable conditions arising due to the COVID-19 outbreak are likley to hinder the market’s growth.
High potential for the development of bio-based thermic fluids is to provide a major growth opportunity to the market studied.

Key Market Trends

Rising Demand for Mineral Oil Segment

Mineral oils, used as a thermic fluid, are petroleum-based fluids produced from distillation cuts from crude oil.
Mineral oils are isomeric mixtures of paraffin or naphthene-basic hydrocarbons and can be categorized into paraffinic and naphthenic oils. These oils are selected for viscosity, which partly defines heat transfer properties and stability.
Paraffinic mineral oils hold a higher flash point and a higher boiling point. While on the other hand, naphthenic mineral oils hold better low-temperature characteristics and lower pour points.
The mineral oils offer better thermal stability at high temperatures, easier disposal and maintenance requirements, and smaller environmental impacts. These also exhibit properties like very low vapor pressure and lower viscosity.
Mineral oils are the most cost-efficient thermic fluids for supply temperatures up to 290?C. Generally, the mineral oils can operate safely in the temperatures of 270?C - 315?C.
These thermal mineral oils are used in various industries, such as process, chemical, textile, and household equipment like oil-filled radiators.

Oil and Gas Segment to Dominate the Market

Heat transfer fluids are widely used in oil and gas processing in the oil and gas industry. Heat transfer systems and fluids find application in all phases of fuel extraction, transportation, refining, and recycling.
While the oil and gas industry operations are mostly observed in remote and hard-to-reach locations, it stands important to use heat transfer fluids with a high flash point and thermal stability to minimize the risk of explosion. In offshore platforms, thermic fluids are used for facility heating and regeneration of glycols and molecular sieves, which helps remove water from the natural gas produced. In refineries, these fluids are used to heat reboilers of columns for the distillation of oil and oil-based products.
In natural gas processing, thermic fluids are used in the liquid phase for dehydration, extraction, sweetening, and fractionation stages, which helps control temperature, maintain phase, and heat reboilers.
Thermic fluids also find application in oil pipelines and pumping stations to control the oil viscosity while moving through the line. Hence, all such applications in oil and gas play an instrumental role in driving the demand for thermic fluids.
In India, the oil and gas industry is one of the eight core industries. India stands to be a crude oil and gas importing country, with net imports of about 83% of its crude oil and about 47% of natural gas consumption.
The sector stands conducive for investment owing to government policies supporting the sector’s growth with favorable policies. For instance, the government has allowed 100% FDI in various segments of the oil and gas sector, including refineries, natural gas, and petroleum products.
Investments in the oil and gas industry have already been increasing, which is likely to positively influence the demand for thermic fluid during the forecast period. For instance:

In November 2021, Oil and Natural Gas Corp. Ltd (ONGC) announced its plan to invest up to USD 800 million (i.e., INR 6,000 crore) in its petrochemicals arm, ONGC Petro Additions Ltd. (OPaL), which will help to meet its equity requirements.
In November 2021, Praj Industries Limited and Indian Oil Corporation Limited also inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for producing alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuels, 1G and 2G ethanol, compressed bio-gas (CBG), and other biofuels.
In October 2021, a Russian company, Rosneft, launched a large-scale petrochemical production development program worth USD 750 million at the current implemented stage in India.
In September 2021, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) announced its plan to invest USD 4.05 billion in improving the petrochemical capacity and refining efficiency over the next five years.

Hence, all such trends in the oil and gas industry are expected to play an instrumental role in driving the growth of the thermic fluid market in the country over the forecast period.

Competitive Landscape

India thermic fluid market is partially consolidated in nature. Some of the key players in the market include Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited, Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, and Hitech Solution (Generation Four Engitech Ltd), among others.

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