Nick Cook, Editor
Issue #527 | July 30, 2025
Big M&A news from different legs of the frac sand supply chain: Atlas Energy acquires PropFlow (read), and UP and Norfolk Southern announce intention to merge (read).
As July wraps up and we start peering into autumn’s frac sand events, we are pleased to announce Superior Belt Filters as an Event Sponsor for Canada, and also our Early Bird Conference registration promo expires in two weeks.
And now, the news…
Atlas Energy Solutions announced the acquisition of Propflow, a leading provider of patented on-wellsite proppant filtration technology.
More detailed industry insights into what the effects of this integration will mean for our industry.
Combining Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern into the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. would create a 52,215-mile colossus that could offer seamless service from coast to coast, bypassing longtime interchange choke points in Chicago and at gateways along the Mississippi River.
For this piece, it's focused on the Permian since sand markets in other basins are holding up relatively better.
With Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern deal, a single company would control coast-to-coast rail shipments for first time in history
Infill Thinking covers read-through and takeaways from the first earnings release of 2Q25 OFS earnings season…
The shale story goes that the easy targets have all been drilled. But today’s easy targets were yesterday’s hard targets. The skeptics, as always, are blind to the roles of shale experience and technology.
"We are excited to continue our strategy of returning value to our stockholders through this special dividend," said Charles Young.
After the oilfield fire, here's some more details.
He has been on parole since August 2022 when he got out of prison following his conviction on nine felony charges related to his involvement with FourWinds Logistics Inc., a company that purportedly bought and sold sand used in fracking.
7 quick but notable datapoints with implications for the frac service market.
Get relevant announcements and news from major outlets, industry leaders, and local media so you always know what’s happening and changing in the frac sand industry.
Subscribe to get our carefully curated summary of relevant frac sand related news and analysis delivered to your inbox each Wednesday.
Send us your press releases and any other news articles which you believe would be of interest to our readers. Email submissions to [email protected]
- separate golfer registration required
- Evening open for client dinners
- by Invitation Only
• Nick Cook, Petroleum Connection
• Tim McMahon, UT Bureau of Economic Geology
• Ryan Hassler, Rystad Energy
• Joseph Triepke, Infill Thinking
• Hayden Gillespie, Black Mountain Sand
• Marcus Morton, Cyber Square
• Adam Katz, Badger Mining Corp.
• Brian McConn, Atlas Energy
• Pete Cook, Petroleum Connection [M]
• Kevin Fisher, PropX
• Bob Carter, IAC
• Chris Cloud, Saber Asset Group
• Ryan Zorn, Liberty Energy
• Sam Reynolds, Marathon Oil [M]
• Aric Christman, Encino Energy
• Charlie Crisp, Crisp Supply Chain Solutions
• Jose Sagaseta, Vorto [M]
• Matt Martinez, Texas Chrome Transport
• Sergio Sabatini, OmniTRAX
• Isaiah Martinez, WTS Energy Group
• Rick Pattillo, Lobo Logistics
• Nick Cook, Petroleum Connection
• Kirby Wilkerson, KBW Partners [M]
• Dane Walker, Wall Street Sand Company
• Dr. Anthony Konya, Konya Mining Company
• Jim Otteman, Imperium Enterprises
• William Hitters, CEO, Luxmath Consulting
• Alex Meleshko, LIUM Research [M]
• Matt Oehler, PropX
• Anna Omsberg, SandPile
• Steve Brock, Nomad Proppants
• Nick Cook, Petroleum Connection [M]
• Chris Samanns, Signal Peak Silica
• Dave Frattaroli, High Roller Sand
Event Registration – $25