Fracking Proppants Market Intelligence

Industry Outlook & Drivers

Global Proppants Market Outlook

• The fracking proppants demand market is expected to be $7.87 billion in 2018, and it is expected to reach $ 10.10 billion in 2022, with a CAGR of 6.44 percent
• Increase in demand for well completion in North America is seen as the key demand driver

Fracking Proppants Demand Forecast 2022: Global

• The global proppants market is 89.03 million tons, and it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.4 percent to reach 114 million tons
• North America accounts for approx. 78 percent of the global proppants market, and it is expected to increase marginally, due to increase in shale activities in the US and Canada
• The APAC accounts for approx. 17 percent of the global proppants market, and it is expected to witness a growth, due to a large number of upcoming hydraulic fracturing projects in China and Australia, and also due to shale gas extraction projects

Global Proppants Market

Global Proppant Market by Type: 2018 (by volume)

• Frac sand accounts for ~86 percent by volume and ~84 percent by value of the overall proppants market and is expected to dominate the market (in volume), due to its availability and low price
• Ceramic proppants account for ~8 percent by volume and ~8 percent by value of the overall proppants market, and it is  expected to increase marginally, due its physical properties, stability and is superior to other types of proppants
• Resin coated proppants account for ~6 percent by volume and ~6 percent by value of the overall proppants market, and it is expected to increase marginally, due to its excellent physical properties, however, its high cost could limit the volume growth

Proppants Market by Region: 2018

• North America is the most mature market for proppants. The US is the largest market, in terms of both consumption and production, mainly due to strong demand from the unconventional oil & gas exploration industry, like shale and tight oils
• China is the largest market in the APAC region and a net exporter of the ceramic proppants, and it is expected to remain the largest, due to the increase in the domestic demand for frac sand from the unconventional shale and CBM exploration
• India and Australia are the second and third largest markets in the APAC region and it is expected to grow, due to the increasing demand from CMB exploration
• Russia, one of the key exporters of the Frac sand to the North America region, is the fastest growing market in ROW, due to its efforts to tap the potential shale reserves and due to the availability of high quality sand reserves

Global Proppants Drivers and Constraints

Drivers

Increase in demand for well completion activities in the North American market and rebounding of oil price are seen as the key market drivers for proppants

Increase in production from unconventional fields

• Increased focus on resource recovery has led to the adoption of high volume usage of proppants per well and use of more efficient proppant mix for the fracking process
• Potential exploitable reserves are expected to drive the market in the coming quarters

Increase in demand for well completion 

• Increase in demand for well completion activities in the North American market is seen as the key driver for proppants demand
• With lower oil price affecting the spend of shale operators in the US, the number of unfinished wells in the key shale basins went close to 1500, an all-time high

Increase in crude oil price

• Increase in crude oil price has triggered the demand for proppants
• With oil prices rebounding, oil companies are expected to increase the spend on well completion service

Constraints

Regulations on environmental concerns and constrained production from suppliers are the key constraints affecting the growth of proppants market

Environmental regulations

• Stringent government and environmental concerns are constraints to the growth of proppant market

Lower profit margins

• Over the last two years, proppant suppliers had lower margins, due to fall in demand
• Added with supply surplus state, it affected the supplier margins, leading to constrained production