NEW YORK, Nov. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ — Argentina is the contintent’s largest producer as well as consumer of natural gas in South America proppants market. Estimates show that Argentina has over 150 shale wells in production and the number is expected to grow over time. Currently, Argentina has more shale gas than USA. The proppant market in the South America is expected to see a healthy rise due to the presence of immense shale gas reserves in Argentina and Brazil as well as undergoing works to pursue hydraulic fracturing.
The National Petroleum Agency (ANP) of Brazil has issued several new regulations to ensure protection of groundwater sources and to avoid environmental hazards due to fracking. However, significant production of shale gas in Brazil has not been a reality yet. A debate to consider ban on fracking is still underway in both Brazil and Argentina.
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 with multistage hydraulic fracturing in shale gas extraction has created new opportunities for growth in the mid-2000s.
Proppants can be categorized into three- Frac Sand, Resin Coated and Ceramic. Frac sand is the most inexpensive and accounts for 80% share of the demand. This demand will continue to account for the largest chunk of the market due to cost advantages. Its market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14% during the forecast period.
Improved fracturing techniques have allowed sand to be used in applications previously thought to be beyond its performance range. It performs suitably in most conditions except in wells with high closure pressures. Due to their higher cost, ceramic proppants will be limited to areas requiring high performance products. Their market will grow at a CAGR of 15% mainly because of their reliability in extreme conditions.
Resin coated proppants are also expected to grow at a CAGR of 12% due to the relative cost advantages over ceramic proppants and performance advantage over frac sand. The market can be segmented based on geography into U.K, France, Germany, Italy and other countries. Some of the key players in this market are Superior Silica Sands, U.S. Silica Holdings, Texas Silica and Badger mining.
Drivers:
New drilling techniques that employ proppants and improvements in the fracturing industry are the major drivers of this market.
Restraints:
Cost factor in the case of ceramic proppants and various environmental norms on the use of proppants are the major impediments to the growth of the market.
WHAT THE REPORT OFFERS?
1) Market Definition along with identification of key drivers and restraints for the market.
2) Market analysis for the North America Proppants market with region specific assessments and competition analysis on a global and regional scale.
3) Identification of factors instrumental in changing the market scenarios, rising prospective opportunities and identification of key companies which can influence the market on a global and regional scale.
4) Extensively researched competitive landscape section with profiles of major companies along with their strategic initiatives and market shares.
5) Identification and analysis of the Macro and Micro factors that affect the North America Proppants market on both global and regional scale.
6) A comprehensive list of key market players along with the analysis of their current strategic interests and key financial information.
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