A first-of-its-kind frac sand logistics solution set to debut in the Permian Basin later this year may help transform the way proppant is delivered to support hydraulic fracturing operations there. If it works as advertised, it will represent another advance in the streamlining of oil and gas production in the U.S.’s most prolific shale play. In today’s RBN blog, we‘ll explore how Atlas Energy Solutions aims to mechanize the delivery of sand to crude-oil-focused well sites in the Permian.
The U.S. frac sand market has been turned on its head. Over the past three years, demand for the sand used in hydraulic fracturing has more than doubled, dozens of new “local” sand mines have been popping up within the Permian and other fast-growing plays, and frac sand prices have fallen sharply from their 2017 highs. The big changes don’t end there. Exploration and production companies (E&Ps), who traditionally left sand procurement to the pressure pumping companies that complete their wells, are taking a more hands-on approach. And everyone is super-focused on optimizing their “last-mile” frac sand logistics — the delivery of sand by truck, plus unloading and storage of sand at the well site — with an eye toward minimizing completion costs and maximizing productivity. Today, we begin a blog series on the major upheavals rocking the frac sand world in 2019.
A number of producers in the Permian and other shale plays are rethinking their strategies for using, procuring and delivering frac sand — all with the aim of minimizing sand costs, which account for a sizable and increasing share of total drilling and completion expenses. The focus on frac sand stems from evolving completion strategies that are pumping ever-larger volumes of sand into horizontal wells resulting in sharply higher hydrocarbon production. That has caused sand demand — and prices — to soar, and prompted the rapid development of new sand mines close to shale-production hot spots like West Texas, in part to reduce sand transportation costs. Today, we continue our blog series on recent developments on the frac sand front.
In the past year, there have been major changes in the frac sand sector. Exploration and production companies in the Permian and other growing areas have significantly ramped up the volume of sand they use in well completions, catching high-quality sand suppliers in the Upper Midwest off-guard and spurring sharply higher frac sand prices due to the tight supply. At the same time, development of regional sand resources has taken off in the Permian — with close to 20 mines announced with upwards of 60 million tons/year of nameplate capacity possible — and, to a lesser extent, in the SCOOP/STACK, Haynesville and the Eagle Ford. That new capacity should begin easing sand-supply shortfalls next year, reducing sand delivered costs and potentially threatening the dominance of traditional Northern White sand. And more changes are ahead in 2018. Today, we begin a new blog series on fundamental shifts in the all-important frac sand market.
The accelerating trend toward high-intensity completions in the Permian, SCOOP/STACK, Marcellus/Utica, Haynesville and other key shale plays is sharply increasing demand for frac sand. As a result, there's upward pressure on sand prices and there are shortages of certain grades of sand that may continue into 2018. There is also increased interest in developing sand mines near production areas. It’s important to remember, though, that (1) there’s no evidence that sand-supply issues will seriously curtail drilling and completion activity, and (2) higher sand costs can be offset by the production gains that usually come from using a lot more sand. Today we continue our surfing-themed series on sand costs and water-disposal expenses with a look at the forecast for 2017-18 demand for frac sand, sand pricing trends, efforts to develop regional sand supply sources and the bottom-line upside of high-intensity completions.
The techniques used to wring increasing volumes of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs) out of shale continue to evolve, and as they do, producers are facing mounting costs for securing frac sand and for disposing of produced water from the wells. These costs are squeezing producer profits, and—in an era of sustained low hydrocarbon prices—sometimes even flip production economics from favorable to unfavorable. Today we continue our surfing-themed series on sand costs and water-disposal expenses with a look at how sand use in shale plays has evolved—and how these changes affect the bottom line.
In the past few years, producers in shale and tight-oil plays have made great strides in reducing their drilling costs and improving the productivity of their wells. But the trends toward much longer laterals and high-intensity well completions have significantly increased the volumes of sand being used—some individual well completions use enough sand to fill 100 railcars or more! An even bigger concern for many producers is the rising cost of disposing of produced water—that is, the water that emerges with hydrocarbons from these supersized wells. Today we begin a surfing-themed series that focuses on how the two key components of any beach vacation—sand and water—are impacting producer profitability.
After spending the past few years on the backburner with declining production volumes, the Haynesville Shale natural gas play, which straddles the Northeast Texas-Louisiana border, is back in the headlines. Rig counts in the region have doubled in the Haynesville in the past six months or so. Exco Resources—which has four rigs operating there currently—last week said it is divesting its Eagle Ford assets in favor of boosting drilling investment in the Haynesville. At the same time, there’s a new crop of operators in the play dedicated specifically to drilling in the Haynesville. While total basin production volumes have yet to take off, all signs point to a Haynesville resurrection of sorts. But there are also early clues that much has changed since the first go-round and the drilling profile of today’s Haynesville is likely to look much different than it did nearly 10 years ago. Today we begin a look at RBN’s latest analysis of production economics in the Haynesville Shale.
<p>Last year was a banner year for the sand mining companies that cater to the U.S. shale drilling services industry.</p>
