Proppant

Hydraulic fracturing operations slowed considerably across the Lower 48 last year as the pandemic slammed the oilpatch, but proppant operators are seeing signs of a turnaround as their customers begin completing wells. The management teams of U.S. Silica Holdings Inc. and Smart Sand Inc. recently held their fourth quarter conference calls, acknowledging the struggles through…

Covia Corp., which provides proppants for oil and gas well operations across North America, on Tuesday said it had filed for bankruptcy, making it the third U.S. energy company in three days to seek Chapter 11 protection.  The petition to reorganize under Chapter 11 was filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District…

Proppant sand providers, which faced headwinds during the first quarter from low prices and conservative spending by their customers, will have to deal with a supply and demand imbalance that could pressure prices into the foreseeable future.

Permian Basin in-basin sand production by one count has reached more than 60 million tons/year, and in-basin operations are growing in other areas, reducing demand for the ever-popular northern white as companies work to reduce costs and improve efficiencies.

Emerge Energy Services LP unit Superior Silica has contracted to supply sand from its in-basin mine in San Antonio for Chesapeake Energy Corp.’s growing fracture/completions program in the Eagle Ford Shale under a new agreement, the company said Monday.

Acknowledging that it is somewhat of a long shot, North Dakota energy and geologic officials are re-evaluating whether sands in the state could be used in hydraulic fracturing (fracking), which has fueled the oil and natural gas boom in the Bakken Shale.

With horizontal wells longer than ever and completions requiring more stages, U.S. fracture (frack) sand operators secured more long-term contracts during the second quarter and continue to see support to expand capacity for more in-basin services.

Emerge Energy Services LP raised prices for contracted and spot sand customers by 3-5% beginning in the second quarter on record market demand for proppant in the U.S. onshore, executives said.

The Haynesville Shale redux continues, with the natural rig count sharply higher from a year ago and proppant intensity surpassing any other onshore play in the United States, according to analysts.