In 1989, the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) began working on Recent Advances in Hydraulic Fracturing, Monograph Series Vol. 12, which was published in 1989. The technical editors were John L. Gidley, Stephen A. Holditch, Dale E. Nierode, and Ralph W. Veatch Jr. The book was the first in the SPE Monograph Series to be organized with different “expert” authors for each chapter. The technical editors developed an outline and assigned the best experts for each topic to write the chapter. The result was a monograph that set the tone for technology transfer for a complex technical operation. Recent Advances in Hydraulic Fracturing (Monograph 12) captured the current technology (in the 1980s), but it also included the fundamental knowledge that was in the literature dating back to the 1960s. The technology, however, was focused on hydraulic fracturing in reservoirs where vertical fractures were created in vertical wells, with the most common reservoir involved at that time being a tight gas or tight oil sandstone reservoir.

This new book, Hydraulic Fracturing: Fundamentals and Advancements, is a comprehensive update to Monograph 12. In the nearly 30 years since it was published, the science, technology, and application of hydraulic fracturing have experienced explosive growth. Perhaps the largest factor in the increased application of hydraulic fracturing has been the use of the technique to stimulate horizontal wells in shale reservoirs, sometimes called the “shale revolution.” The industry is achieving economically recoverable oil and gas from microdarcy and nanodarcy formations that were not considered viable candidates for oil and gas production in 1989. The use of horizontal drilling in these tight oil and gas reservoirs, combined with multistage hydraulic-fracture treatments, has revolutionized the oil and gas industry.

The 18 chapters of Hydraulic Fracturing: Fundamentals and Advancements follow the general structure of Monograph 12 in that each chapter addresses the many and varied important aspects required in hydraulic fracturing. The author team of 26 subject-matter experts represents a diversity of talent, background, and experience. All have published extensively in their fields of specialty and have demonstrated an extraordinary ability to clearly explain these technical processes.

We believe this book is unique in the depth and breadth of its coverage in each technical area, and it is long overdue considering the explosive increase in technology, especially in the last 10 years. Each chapter begins with an overview that describes its scope and summarizes the area covered. To those already experienced in hydraulic fracturing, each chapter might be viewed as standing alone, although cross-referencing between chapters permits identification of related areas. The authors frequently present illustrative problems to demonstrate the application of technology and have endeavored to make the material as instructive as possible.

Finally, even though every book at the time of its publication is already partially out of date, we believe that the authors of this work, by their unfailing diligence to keep abreast of new technology, have truly captured the significant, most recent technologies required for success in hydraulic-fracturing applications.