Frac Sand Market Growth, Trends, Forecast | Industry Analysis Report

Market Overview:

The global frac sand market size reached US$ 7.0 Billion in 2022. Looking forward, IMARC Group expects the market to reach US$ 11.4 Billion by 2028, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 8.24% during 2023-2028. The surging need for energy, technological advancements in oil extraction, and the emergence of horizontal multistage fracturing represent some of the key factors driving the market.

Surging Need for Energy Facilitating Market Growth

The growing global population and improving standards of living are increasing the need for oil and natural gas. This represents one of the primary factors catalyzing the demand for frac sand used to extract oil and gas from rock formations. In addition, rapid urbanization worldwide is increasing the adoption of energy for heating, cooling, and transportation applications. Moreover, the growing environmental concerns, such as climate change and air pollution, is propelling the utilization of cleaner energy sources, such as natural gas, as compared to coal-fired power generation, which is bolstering the growth of the frac sand market.

Competitive analysis such as market structure, market share by key players, player positioning, top winning strategies, competitive dashboard, and company evaluation quadrant has been covered in the report. Also, detailed profiles of all major companies have been provided. The market structure is fragmented due to the presence of many players. The volume of new entrants is high in the frac sand industry due to high market growth, easy access to the distribution network, low switching costs, and low capital investment. The product differentiation in the industry is low as most of the manufacturers employ a similar manufacturing process.

What is Frac Sand?

Also known as industrial sand, frac sand is a high-purity quartz sand processed from sandstone. It possesses high purity, roundness, and crush resistance, which makes it an effective proppant. It is used in the process of hydraulic fracturing or fracking, along with large quantities of water and industrial fluids, to open the underground cracks while fracturing the shale to produce petroleum fluids, such as oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. It helps improve the productivity of individual wells and increases the overall yield of an oil and gas field.

COVID-19 Impact:

The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has caused a severe problem for the frac sand industry and imposed unprecedented challenges on numerous countries. It has also created a serious disturbance in the mining sector and hampered the supply chains, which resulted in shortages in labor and caused a significant drop in the production of frac sand. In addition, the pandemic severely affected the construction and glass manufacturing industries due to labor and raw material shortages and supply chain disruptions, which significantly disrupted the demand for frac sand. However, after the crisis was under control, governments of various countries uplifted lockdowns, eased rules to upscale the economy and support domestic and small business to resume manufacturing operations.

Frac Sand Market Trends:

Rapid infrastructure development and expansion of roads, bridges, and buildings are resulting in the increasing demand for frac sand. This represents one of the key factors positively influencing the market across the globe. In addition, the rising adoption of advanced technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) for the analysis of large amounts of data and identifying patterns that can help operators to make informed decisions, predict reservoir behavior, optimize drilling operations, and identify maintenance issues beforehand are bolstering the market growth. Apart from this, technological advances in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies for low permeability reservoirs is fueling the growth of the market. Apart from this, the emergence of horizontal drilling, which eliminates the need for drilling multiple wells and allows greater access to the target reservoir, is contributing to the market growth. In line with this, frac sand is widely used in the production of glass due to its extreme thermal shock resistance and low coefficient of thermal expansion, which prevent any change in the material due to temperature and withstand large temperature fluctuations. Moreover, frac sand allows the resulting glass to be an effective insulator and protects against excessive energy of electric flow in case of accidental exposure. Additionally, it provides excellent optical transmission characteristics, which increases its applicability in laboratory equipment. Furthermore, there is a rise in the awareness about advanced sensors, data analytics, and communication technologies to monitor and optimize oil and gas production in real time, which helps reduce costs, increase efficiency, and improve safety. This, in confluence with the thriving oil and gas industry, is contributing to the growth of the market. Other factors, such as the high cost-effectiveness of frac sand when compared with resin-coated and ceramic proppants, are contributing to the market growth across the globe.

Key Market Segmentation:

IMARC Group provides an analysis of the key trends in each sub-segment of the global frac sand market report, along with forecasts at the global and regional level from 2023-2028. Our report has categorized the market based on type and application.

Type Insights:

• White Sand 
• Brown Sand
• Others
   

The report has provided a detailed breakup and analysis of the frac sand market based on the type. This includes white sand, brown sand, and others. According to the report, brown sand represented the largest segment as it meets the specification standards pertaining to roundness, turbidity, clusters and sphericity. In addition, the demand for brown sand is largely influenced by the wide quality and high compressive strength, along with enhanced crush resistance.

Application Insights:

• Oil Exploitation
• Natural Gas Exploration
• Others
   

A detailed breakup and analysis of the frac sand market based on the application has also been provided in the report. This includes oil exploitation, natural gas exploration, and others. According to the report, natural gas exploration accounted for the largest market share due to its increasing demand for producing domestic natural gas and liquified natural gas (LPG). Moreover, the escalating demand for natural gas production is further catalyzing the usage of frac sand in terms of the exploration of unconventional natural gas reserves.

Regional Insights:

• North America
• Asia Pacific
• Europe
• Middle East and Africa
• Latin America
   

The report has also provided a comprehensive analysis of all the major regional markets, which include North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Latin America. According to the report, North America was the largest market for frac sand. The North America frac sand market is experiencing growth due to the availability of prime shale resources, such as Permian basin, horn river basin, and Montney basin, in the region. Apart from this, the high demand for natural gas production in the region is increasing the utilization of modern hydraulic fracturing methods for the exploration of unconventional natural gas reserves, which, in turn, is propelling the use of frac sand. Moreover, the inauguration of conferences like North American Frac Sand 2023 to bring the frac sand supply chain industry together and evaluate solutions for overcoming the current market and logistical challenges of supplying frac sand to well sites is catalyzing the demand for frac sand in the region.

Competitive Landscape:

The report has also provided a comprehensive analysis of the competitive landscape in the global frac sand market. Some of the companies covered in the report include:

• CARBO Ceramics
• Emerge Energy Services
• Covia Holdings
• Hi Crush
• Source Energy Services
• U.S Silica
• Preferred Sands
• Badger Mining Corporation
• Mammoth Energy Service, Inc.
• Smart Sand Inc.
• Chongqing Changjiang
   

Please note that this only represents a partial list of companies, and the complete list has been provided in the report.

Report Coverage:

Key Benefits for Stakeholders:

• IMARC’s report offers a comprehensive quantitative analysis of various market segments, historical and current market trends, market forecasts, and dynamics of the frac sand market from 2017-2028.
• The research study provides the latest information on the market drivers, challenges, and opportunities in the global frac sand market.
• The study maps the leading, as well as the fastest-growing, regional markets. It further enables stakeholders to identify the key country-level markets within each region.
• Porter's five forces analysis assist stakeholders in assessing the impact of new entrants, competitive rivalry, supplier power, buyer power, and the threat of substitution. It helps stakeholders to analyze the level of competition within the frac sand industry and its attractiveness.
• Competitive landscape allows stakeholders to understand their competitive environment and provides an insight into the current positions of key players in the market.