Are Proppants Really Necessary?

This article is a synopsis of paper SPE 38611, "Proppants? We Don't Need No Proppants," by M.J. Mayerhofer, SPE, M.F. Richardson, SPE, R.N. Walker Jr., SPE, and D.N. Meehan, SPE, Union Pacific Resources; M.W. Oehler, SPE, Halliburton Energy Services; and R.R. Browning Jr., SPE, BJ Services, originally presented at the 1997 SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition, San Antonio, Texas, 5-8 October.