by Kent Syverson, Professor of Geology
Sand mine announcements continue unabated in the Permian Basin of Texas. I was out of town visiting UW-Eau Claire geology interns at sand mines around the State of Wisconsin, so I had to catch up on Permian sand mine announcements when I arrived at home…. Recently Badger Mining Corp. and Fairmount Santrol announced mines to be developed in the Permian Basin region. This is in addition to at least twelve other mines announced previously.
The Odessa American newspaper recently published an interesting article about the Texas sand “gold rush”, http://www.oaoa.com/news/business/article_24eb34ea-6f1e-11e7-be6a-1b15e1ba939e.html. I was amazed by the similarities between this article and articles being written during the 2011-12 sand “gold rush” in Wisconsin!
The development of sand mines in the Permian Basin continues to be a major news item. The overall sand quality in the Permian Basin is still a mystery, but given the large capital investments being made, the sand must be of reasonable quality.
The 6th Annual Frac Sand Supply & Logistics conference in Houston, TX, will have a major focus on Permian Basin sand and sand logistics (Sept. 28-29, 2017, sponsored by Petroleum Connection). The agenda has several talks, panel discussions, and round table discussions about Permian Basin issues (see the link at the end of this paragraph). Dr. Brent Elliot (Texas Bureau of Economic Geology) and I have been invited to present a talk about the quality of Texas and Wisconsin sands, and I am looking forward to our talk (and the conference in general). Here is the link to the preliminary meeting agenda: http://www.petroleumconnection.com/conferences/sand2017/agenda.
I hope to meet many of you in Houston! If you have any questions for me, feel free to track me down at the meeting or contact me beforehand.
Dr. Kent M. Syverson (P.G.) is a professor of geology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He has been a frac sand expert in the State of Wisconsin for more than eight years. As part of Syverson GeoConsulting LLC, Kent has prospected for frac sand, provided expert testimony at sand permit hearings, collected frac sand intelligence for companies, and conducted third-party reviews for companies seeking to acquire existing sand mines. Kent has attended many frac sand conferences in Wisconsin and Texas and is knowledgeable about the properties of Texas brown sands and Texas last-mile logistics.