Frac Sand Weekly News Digest

Nick Cook, Editor

Issue #245 | November 13, 2019

We have some goods news and some bad news. The good news is that we have some bad news, which is necessary for the frac sand industry to work through this correction. Some plants are closing and one supplier is warning about their long-term viability as a “going concern”. This is difficult to hear, since these are real people (and many are friends, in this fairly small industry) and we hate to see them facing potential job losses. While the industry does need to work through this (and there will be more closures and lay-offs), we hope those negatively impacted can find other opportunities quickly. There are several good articles in the Digest today, so I hope you take the time to read it. Don’t forget to sign up for the 5th Annual Frac Sand Industry Update, being held in late January, where we will be talking about all these industry changes. Have a good rest of the week!

This Week's News

Covia silica mining plant in Kasota, MN permanently closed

The Covia silica sand mining operation at Kasota is permanently closed, leaving county officials uncertain of the future of the thousands of acres the company owns in the Kasota and Ottawa area. "This decision was based...

Workers report layoffs at Utica sand plant

About 25 workers were reportedly laid off Friday at the Covia (formerly Unimin) facility in Utica, bringing the total number of workers laid off to a running total of 65. That total includes administrative jobs...

Screening Last Week’s Frac Sand Earnings Calls For Market Intel

We listened to four public frac sand company conference calls last week. Here are the polished market intel points that we screened out from the raw feedstock of these calls...

Tarmac International

U.S. frack sand suppliers latest casualties in shale industry slump

The companies that provide sand for hydraulic fracturing operations are the latest casualties of shale industry cutbacks as low oil prices and demands for higher investor returns stunt drilling activity...

Frack-Sand Supplier Tumbles After ‘Going Concern’ Warning

Carbo Ceramics Inc. plunged 47% after warning investors it may fail as a going concern in part because its largest frack-sand customer halted purchases. The slump on Monday was the fracking sand...

Sand Mine M&A, But Not The Consolidation Many Are Waiting For…

A deal has been reached that sees a long-standing frac sand mine change hands…

Advertiser Space Available

U.S. Silica Launches New, Cutting-Edge Website

U.S. Silica today launched a new cutting-edge website featuring simplified, intuitive navigation and design to better showcase the company's diverse products, innovative spirit, and commitment to operating its...

Occidental to sell Permian campus after Anadarko takeover

Occidental Petroleum Corp. plans to sell a four-story office building in the heart of the Permian Basin and move employees into a nearby one owned by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., the oil producer it bought for $37 billion three months ago...

Not Every Last Mile Solution Can Have A Bigger Piece Of Pie If The Pie Isn’t Growing…

Relative to sand production, last mile is certainly a relative bright spot at the moment. But we submit that too many…

Rail Shippers Seek Transload Sites Even As Volumes Still Weak

Transloading, the process of moving product from one mode of transportation to another, is critical to freight shipping across the entire transportation network. Interest in transloading is tied to general demand for...

The Mouat Company

Canadian National's Best Days Could Be Long Gone

The trade war with China is causing the global economy to slow. U.S. railroads have been suffering from falling rail traffic for most of the year. Stagnant rail traffic has finally hit Canada. Through the first 44 weeks...

Tank-car repair, requalification work keeps repair shops busy

The decline in U.S. freight-rail traffic continued through October. At recent industry trade shows, railroaders and suppliers weren’t shy about acknowledging the sluggish and uncertain economy, noting that freight-rail...

Idled Frac Fleets Sold for Scrap Amid Shale Drilling slump

The downturn in shale drilling has been so steep and brisk that oilfield companies are taking the unprecedented step of scrapping entire fleets of fracing gear. With almost half of U.S. frac firepower...

In Argentina The 'New Gold' Is Frac Sand And YPF Seeks To Take It By Boat To Bahía Blanca (Article In Spanish)

“Frac sand, called the "new gold" and used for hydraulic fracturing and other hydrocarbon extraction activities, has made Entre Ríos the country's largest supplier, and the shale play Vaca Muerta, the sand’s main destination...

CST_Frac Sand Banner

Why Is ESG Trending In O&G? Follow The Money, But Remember HSE & Societal Value Predate The Trend In O&G

In this update, three charts – one showing the surge of ESG interest in the oilfield and two others explaining why. The data is followed up with in-depth analysis and commentary on sentiment, investment, why it...

We May Have Picked All the Low Hanging Fruit, But There Are Still A Lot of Juicy Apples Higher Up the Tree.

I see a lot of articles these days about the end of the shale revolution. Some companies have missed production targets and we now find many of their EUR estimates were overly optimistic. The term “Parent Child Relationship” has entered...

New Report on Shale Exposes EIA Predictions as Extremely Optimistic

The latest report from energy expert, J. David Hughes, shows that while the most recent Energy Information Administration forecasts indicate a need for over 1.5M new domestic shale oil and gas wells at a...

Cruise Line Delays Opening Of Private Island (former Industrial Sand Mine)

Although several ships were set to call upon MSC Cruises’ new private island this weekend, those visits have been canceled. Because of the last-minute decision, most guests who’d hoped to be among the first to visit Ocean Cay only found out about the change upon setting sail...

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