Brent 2026 · +7% YoY in upstream spending 2026—27
The Middle East conflict creates the preconditions for a new investment cycle in global upstream.
Industry analytical report · September 2026
Global and Russian Upstream & Oilfield Services — 2026
Global trends and a detailed analysis of Russia’s oilfield services market: market size and structure, contractor capacity, segment growth and profitability, and forecasts through 2028.
Overview · September 2026PDF ↓ 770US$ bn — global oilfield services market, 2025
3.7%Global market CAGR, forecast 2025–2028
3,021RUB bn — Russian oilfield services market, 2025
7.5%Russian market CAGR, forecast 2025–2028
CAGR is the compound annual growth rate over three years: global market from US$770bn to US$858bn; Russian market from RUB3,021bn to RUB3,752bn. The estimates use different market scopes. Source: KC report, pp. 5, 9, 15.
Key takeaways
Six conclusions of the report
Russian production 2024—28 · 6% cost CAGR
Holding production on plateau requires ever more work: footage drilled up 11%, headcount up 16%, while production fell 2% over 2021—2025. For the operator the tonne did not get more expensive — the difference was absorbed by contractor margins.
200 frac fleets · 2,877 workover crews
Capacity has stopped growing: the workover crew fleet is unchanged over four years, and frac fleets have reached the limit of demand.
Global oilfield services market 2025 · +43% over five years
Over ten years the market has shifted from well construction to production maintenance: the share of drilling services fell from 13% to 10%, while stimulation and production rose from 10% to 12%. Russia is following the same trajectory.
Russian oilfield services market · KC estimate for 2025
Growth of 13% per year over the past five years gives way to 8% in the forecast. Two thirds of the increase comes from inflation rather than work volumes.
Capital expenditure as a share of operators’ available cash flow
For the first time the industry is investing more in production than it earns from it.
Russian oilfield services market size RUB bn · 2021—2028
Each layer is one trillion roubles. Left of the divide is the KC estimate, right of it is the Kasatkin Consulting forecast.
2021
1,838 RUB bn
actual
| Year | Market, RUB bn | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,838 | — |
| 2022 | 2,323 | +26.4% |
| 2023 | 2,717 | +17.0% |
| 2024 | 3,120 | +14.9% |
| 2025 | 3,021 | −3.2% |
| 2026 | 3,247 | +7.5% |
| 2027 | 3,490 | +7.5% |
| 2028 | 3,752 | +7.5% |
Chart data
| Year | Market, RUB bn | Change | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,838 | — | KC estimate |
| 2022 | 2,323 | +26.4% | KC estimate |
| 2023 | 2,717 | +17.0% | KC estimate |
| 2024 | 3,120 | +14.9% | KC estimate |
| 2025 | 3,021 | −3.2% | KC estimate |
| 2026 | 3,247 | +7.5% | forecast |
| 2027 | 3,490 | +7.5% | forecast |
| 2028 | 3,752 | +7.5% | forecast |
What this report is about
The changing economics of production
Between 2021 and 2025, Russian drilling footage rose 11% and oilfield services employment grew 16%, while oil production fell 2%. Maintaining output requires more activity and resources.
The report helps oil and gas operators, service companies, equipment manufacturers and investors assess demand, contractor capacity and financial resilience.
“Russian oilfield services represent RUB 3 trillion per year and 370 thousand jobs.”
Dmitry Kasatkin · Kasatkin Consulting
From the report’s foreword
- Research basis
- 493 legal entities and 2,244 annual observations
- Company accounts, Rosnedra, EMISS and CDU TEK
- Expert interviews and international industry databases
Indicators covered
What the report measures
The market is broken down into 15 segments in money terms, while capacity and operations are given in physical units.
All 15 segments, capacity and operations
| Segment | RUB bn | share |
|---|---|---|
| Equipment | 727.7 | 24.1% |
| Drilling | 674.9 | 22.3% |
| Other | 282.8 | 9.4% |
| Well intervention & workover | 238.2 | 7.9% |
| Hydraulic fracturing | 223.3 | 7.4% |
| Drilling support | 151.0 | 5.0% |
| Drilling fluids | 141.2 | 4.7% |
| Artificial lift | 101.0 | 3.3% |
| Sidetracking | 97.4 | 3.2% |
| Cementing | 77.3 | 2.6% |
| Exploration drilling | 76.4 | 2.5% |
| Well logging | 67.4 | 2.2% |
| Seismic | 66.9 | 2.2% |
| Coiled tubing | 56.3 | 1.9% |
| Bit services | 39.2 | 1.3% |
| Oilfield services market, total | 3,021.0 | 100% |
Capacity and operations, 2025
1,352drilling rigs in the fleet, wear and tear 55%
29.1mn m of development footage, 64% horizontal
200frac fleets, 16 of them mothballed
40.8thousand frac stages, 74% multi-stage
2,877workover crews, unchanged for four years
163.4thousand producing wells, 71% on ESP
Contents
Report contents
- Key takeaways3
- Global upstream trends4
- Global oilfield services market5
- In focus: USA, China, Russia6
- Upstream trends in Russia7
- Macroeconomic context8
- Oilfield services market9
- Drilling10
- Hydraulic fracturing11
- Well intervention, workover and artificial lift12
- Exploration activity13
- Oilfield services market facts14
- Methodology15
- Sources16
- Our products17
Methodology
How the market was measured
Company accounts and segments
Revenue of oilfield service companies was collected from the financial statements of 493 legal entities and allocated to segments through the notes to those statements.
Forecasting physical activity
The forecast links operators’ cash flow, capital expenditure, drilling footage, operations and revenue. Macro assumptions come from the Bank of Russia survey.
Physical cross-check
Revenue estimates are checked against drilling footage, frac stages, workovers and equipment fleets. Calculations, primary data and expert estimates are distinguished.
Questions and answers
How large is the Russian oilfield services market?
According to Kasatkin Consulting, the Russian oilfield services market reached RUB 3,021 bn in 2025, excluding VAT. The scope includes equipment and excludes infrastructure construction. Average annual growth over 2021—2025 was 13%; the forecast to 2028 is 8% per year, reaching RUB 3,752 bn.
What segments make up the market?
The largest segments in 2025 are equipment at RUB 727.7 bn, drilling at RUB 674.9 bn, well intervention and workover at RUB 238.2 bn, hydraulic fracturing at RUB 223.3 bn and drilling support at RUB 151.0 bn. The drilling cluster as a whole — drilling, exploration drilling, sidetracking, drilling support, fluids, cementing, well logging and bit services — totals RUB 1,318 bn, or about 44% of the market. Well logging is allocated between drilling and exploration; only its drilling-related share is included in this cluster.
How many people work in Russian oilfield services?
About 370 thousand in 2025, against 318 thousand in 2021. No official employment statistics exist for the industry: the estimate is reconstructed from company payroll data and disclosed average headcount.
How large are the Russian drilling rig and frac fleets?
The drilling rig fleet is 1,352 units with wear and tear of 55%; the technical footage ceiling without fleet renewal is around 32 mn m per year against 29.1 mn m actually drilled. The frac fleet is 200 units, 16 of them mothballed, against 184 required by work volumes. There are 2,877 workover crews, a number unchanged for four years.
Why a separate report if official statistics exist?
Official statistics publish neither the size of the oilfield services market, nor headcount in it, nor the equipment fleet. The report reconstructs these figures from primary sources — company financial statements, Rosnedra forms 2-GR and 7-GR, EMISS and CDU TEK data, interviews with operators and contractors, international databases — and labels every figure as fact, calculation or expert estimate.
Is the report paid?
No. The Overview of the global and Russian upstream and oilfield services market 2026 is free and available as a PDF target="_blank" rel="noopener". Paid products are the deep-dive industry reports, such as the Russian Hydraulic Fracturing Market Overview 2026, and bespoke work for clients.
Kasatkin Consulting
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Russian Hydraulic Fracturing Market Overview 2026
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