Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh -- (SBWire) -- 10/29/2012 --ReportReserve announces the inclusion of its new report in Advanced Materials Industry.

Hydraulic fracturing is propagation of fractures through layers of rock using pressurized fracturing fluid. This technique is primarily used in the extraction of resources from low permeability reservoirs such as shale gas, tight gas, and unconventional liquids; which are difficult to recover through regular drilling procedures.

In this process fracturing fluid is used. It consists of water, proppant, chemical additives, and guar gum. Proppant is the most integral constituent of the fracturing fluid after water. Proppant material keeps the generated fractures propped open and helps continued oil and gas recovery.

The hydraulic fracturing market is mainly concentrated in North America; hence the demand for proppant is largest here, many leading oil field service companies operate. Hence, proppant production is also much bigger than rest of the world. All the big oilfield service companies are operating in the U.S. There are several important players in North American proppant market such as Cadre Proppants (U.S.), Momentive (U.S.), Saint Gobain Proppants (U.S.), Carbo Ceramics (U.S.), and many other small companies in frac sand business.

While the North American hydraulic fracturing market is nearly reaching maturity, Rest of the World’s (ROW) market is still in its infancy stage. However, ROW has significant share in global proppant manufacturing. Proppants are exported from manufacturing centers such as China, Russia, Brazil, and India to the demand center of North America.

Proppant production in ROW accounts for about 20% of the global production. However, production in this region is expected to grow at a higher CAGR of 15.8% due to two main reasons. First, players in low cost manufacturing destinations such as India and China are expected to multiply due to the export opportunities to North America. In addition, hydraulic fracturing is poised to take off in some countries such as Poland and China. Production is also expected to commence to cater to these new demand centers. The Chinese manufacturers have started to capture the share of the proppant market especially in North America.

Currently, there are three main types of proppants: frac sand, resin coated proppants (RCP), and ceramic proppants. Each proppant type has its own advantages and disadvantages, and reservoir engineers decide on the type to be used depending on geology, availability, prices, and Government regulations.

In 1947, first fracturing was done with fracturing silica sand. Fracturing sand is the basic type of proppant material and is being used since the first fracturing. The R&D on proppant resulted in two comparatively new proppants named resin coated proppants and ceramic proppants. Frac sand is low price untreated sand proppant with lowest conductivity among the three. Ceramic proppants and resin coated proppants are high quality, high strength, and high conductivity proppants; and are used in very low permeability wells or in multiple stages fracturing. Non-grain proppants like CO2, N2, and LPG are on the horizon but will take long time to get commercialized.

Scope of the report

This report estimates the proppant market in terms of volume and value. This has been broken down into component regions and further split into countries. This report also evaluates the proppant production in various regions by type of the proppant.

On the basis of geography: The report is divided in regions such as Asia-Pacific, Europe, North America; and major countries such as U.S., Canada, China, Russia, and India

On the basis of proppant type: The report divides the proppant by types like fracturing sand, resin coated proppants, and ceramic proppants.

For further information please visit http://www.reportreserve.com/report/proppant-market-by-type--report-566141