To obtain optimal results from the fracturing process, several new fracturing technologies can be applied to prevent inappropriate stimulation designs and catastrophic fracture-fluid problems. Despite industry awareness of these technologies, they are not applied routinely because of their added expense. In addition, the benefits are difficult to quantify and often are not clearly understood. In this paper, we present an economic assessment of fracture-treatment quality control, in-situ stress profiling, and 3D fracture-propagation models that indicates that these technologies increase gas reserves by 10% to 20% for a 5% to 10% increase in the well cost. The application of these technologies is profitable when the formation gas permeability is between 0.001 and 0.3 md.