Chapter 1: Introduction Available to Purchase

Hydraulic fracturing is a continuously evolving well stimulation method. It is capable of being adapted to enable, enhance, accelerate, or sometimes restore production by reducing flow-path resistance across a wide range of geologic settings ranging from source rocks to reservoirs. From the recognition of the possibility of hydraulic fracturing in the mid-1940s, the practice has become commonplace in hydrocarbon development around the world. During the past 7 decades, the design and the components of fracturing have been tuned to efficiently increase production, often by multiple folds of increase, especially in low-permeability reservoirs and source rocks.

The first intentional and documented hydraulic fracturing test occurred in July 1947 on the Klepper No. 1 well in the Hugoton Field in Grant County, Kansas, USA (Clark 1949). The location is shown in Fig. 1.1. At the time, the practice was judged to be inferior to acidizing as a stimulation mechanism (Montgomery and Smith 2010). Even with this less-than-stellar initial effort, the technology was improved as additional treatments were attempted. The first commercial treatments, shown in Fig. 1.2, were pumped by Halliburton on 17 March 1949 in Stephens County, Oklahoma, USA, and Archer County, Texas, USA.