Asia-Pacific Proppants Market 

The market is expected to see a healthy rise due to the presence of immense shale gas reserves and hydraulic fracturing  projects in China and Australia. The future shale gas extraction projects in India also assure a promising market in this region.

Proppants are sand or other granular substances injected into the fractures to hold or open formation fractures created by hydraulic fracturing. Although proppants have been used in oil and gas production for 70 years, the recent emergence of horizontal drilling technology and multistage hydraulic fracturing along with the advent of shale gas extraction have created new opportunities for growth in the early and mid-2000s.

The worldwide demand for proppants has increased more than tenfold since the advent of shale gas. As crude oil prices have spiked and the early ventures in horizontal drilling were successful; proppants have provided further momentum to drilling and completion activity. China has the largest reserves of recoverable shale gas in the world and has been conducting horizontal drilling and water fracking successfully. However, they still employ a decade-old technology and the success of shale gas and proppants development in China will hinge on better exploration equipment. In Australia, a significant production of shale gas is at least a decade away and will face challenges due to shale gas drilling costs and its ability to compete with coal seam gas. Since most of the conventional shale gas reserves in Australia are remotely located, its production may face less environmental opposition than operations in the more populated areas where coal seam gas is currently being developed. India has relatively low estimated reserves of recoverable shale but the estimates may increase with better mapping. A few wells have already been drilled by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, a public sector oil and gas company of the government of India.

Market Dynamics of the Asia-Pacific Proppants Market

Drivers:

• New drilling techniques that employ proppants
• Improvements in the fracturing industry

Restraints:

• Major impediments due to the environmental norms on the use of the proppants
• Cost factor

Asia-Pacific Proppants Market Segmentation

Proppants can be categorized into three types, namely, frac sand, resin coated and ceramic; where frac sand is the most inexpensive and accounts for 80% share of the demand.  It is expected to continue to account for the largest chunk of the market due to its cost advantages. Due to their higher cost, ceramic proppants’ applications will be limited to areas requiring high performance products.  Their market will grow at a higher rate mainly because of their reliability in extreme conditions. Resin coated proppants are also expected to grow due to the relative cost advantages over ceramic proppants and performance advantage over frac sand. The APAC proppants market can also be segmented based on geography into China, India, Australia and other countries.

The report studies the market for insights into the major market player for their recent developments, financials and products & services offered. Some of the key players in this market are:

• Badger mining
• Superior Silica Sands
• Texas Silica
• U.S. Silica Holdings

Key Deliverables in the Study:

• Analysis for the Asia-Pacific proppants market, with region specific assessments and competition analysis.
• Market definition along with the identification of key drivers and restraints.
• Identification of factors instrumental in changing the market scenario, rising prospective opportunities, and identification of key companies that can influence this market on a regional scale.
• Extensively researched competitive landscape section with profiles of major companies along with their market share.
• Identification and analysis of the macro and micro factors that affect the Asia-Pacific proppants market on a regional scale.
• A comprehensive list of key market players along with the analysis of their current strategic interests and key financial information.
• A wide-ranging knowledge and insights about the major players in this industry and the key strategies adopted by them to sustain and grow in the studied market.
• Insights on the major countries where this industry is growing and to also identify the regions that are still untapped.