Gelling agent is one the most important additives in fracturing fluids to provide enough viscosity for breaking the formation rocks and carrying proppant into the fractures.

Clay swelling and dispersion cause reduced permeability and fines migration in reservoir matrix. Clay inhibitors or stabilizers are generally added in treatment fluids to minimize the potential formation damage introduced by the interaction between the active clay minerals and water-based treatment fluids. These clay stabilizers are either a temporary or permanent type, and they are often used in combination.

The mixing water for the preparation of fracture fluid should be free of bacteria and enzymes. Either can cause degradation of the polymer and premature viscosity break. They can also prevent viscosity development because bacteria produce enzymes to which most guar or guar derivative polymers are particularly sensitive.

Guar or guar derivative products tend to degrade at elevated temperature. The rheological properties of guar-based fracturing fluids will deteriorate at high temperature. Iron ions present in mix-water or fracturing fluids can affect the fluid properties adversely. A stabilizer must be added whenever the dissolved iron concentration is greater than 10 ppm.

Foaming agents are composed of one or more surfactants specifically tailored to stabilize the interface between the internal and external phases of a foam. Defoamers are also used in oilfields to break the foams formed while mixing fracturing fluids because these foams can create problems such as lower and wrong density reading, poor wetting and hydration efficiency, and pumping difficulties due to pump cavitation and loss of suction. Flowback surfactants are generally used in aqueous-based stimulation fluids to lower the interfacial tension that restricts fluid flow in the rock matrix.

Crosslinkers are generally introduced into polymer-based fracturing fluids to improve rheological properties and high temperature stability of the fracturing fluids. Fast crosslink of linear gel in fracturing fluids will increase the fluid viscosity exponentially and tubing friction will increase dramatically. The crosslink is therefore required to be delayed at most fracturing operations to avoid the above problems.

Proppant-pack permeability can be severely damaged by linear or crosslinked fracturing gels. The amount of damage increases as gel concentration increases. Breakers are generally used to reduce the viscosity of the fracturing fluids by degrading the gels that is concentrated in the proppant pack. After fracturing treatment is completed, The frac gel needs to be broken to facilitate flowback and reduce the damage of fracturing fluid to the formation.

Diverters are used in fracturing treatment in order to maximize the fracture network and increase the overall fracturing treatment effectiveness.
Proppant flowback or screen-out during fracturing operations are major concerns for field engineers. The loss of proppant especially from the near wellbore critically lower the proppant conductivity and is non-desirable. Flowback control agents are specifically developed to minimize or eliminate the proppant flowback.

Slickwater has been widely used in fracturing treatment in tight sands or shale oil and gas formations. Friction reducers (FR) or high viscosity friction reducers (HVFR) are the key components in most slickwater fracturing fluids.
Proppant materials are engineered granular substances designed to maintain fracture width and 
fracture conductivity in hydraulically fractured formations.