Sand/Proppant

Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Sand/Proppant

Some Shale Drillers Shutting Down from Thanksgiving to New Year
November 16, 2015November 16, 2015

It looks like there’s a slowdown coming for many drillers in the Utica/Marcellus. Strike that–more like a stoppage, we’ve already seen a slowdown. The stoppage for some (not all) drillers will happen between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day when some drillers, according to two different proppant companies, will stop drilling, giving their workers a forced “holiday” at the worst time of the year–the holidays. Both Fairmont Santrol, a frac sand provider headquartered in Chesterland, OH, and Carbo Ceramics, which manufactures and sells ceramic beads as an alternative to frac sand (headquartered in Houston, TX) recently indicated drillers will put on the breaks in the fourth quarter. They should know–they’re the ones who get the orders months in advance. Here’s what they said…
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Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Sand/Proppant | West Virginia

Unimin Energy Expands Frac Sand Terminal in Benwood, WV
November 4, 2015November 4, 2015

Unimin Energy Solutions – Marcellus/Utica Terminal Network – click for larger version

A Texas-based company, Unimin Energy Solutions, has 11 frac sand terminals throughout the Marcellus/Utica region (see the map). The most recent terminal they opened was this past June in Jerry Run, WV (see Unimin Energy Opens 11th Marcellus/Utica Frac Sand Terminal). Another of those 11 sites is in Benwood (Marshall County), WV. Last week Unimin held a grand opening of its 2nd unit train capable terminal at Benwood. The Benwood terminal now has almost 20,000 tons of silo storage capacity and can load up to 55 frac sand trucks per hour. CSX Railroad shuttles unit trains continuously to replenish frac sand inventory at the site. Details on last week’s soirée…
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Belmont County | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Sand/Proppant

MPR Frac Sand Terminal Rising in Belmont County, OH
October 5, 2015October 5, 2015

MPR Transloading & Energy, part of MPR Supply Chain Solutions, operates a 20-acre transloading site on the shores of the Ohio River in Belmont County, OH, just across the river from Wheeling, WV. MPR is working hard to finish a new, large sand hopper at the site so trucks hauling frac sand can pull under it to quickly load and head off to drill sites in the region. There’s just one small problem: There are only 35 rigs operating in eastern Ohio and West Virginia today, half of the number that were operating just a year ago when the sand hopper was planned. That is, there’s less demand for sand…
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Energy Companies | Energy Services | Equinor/Statoil | GE Oil & Gas | Industrywide Issues | Research | Sand/Proppant

GE/Statoil Announce Winners of Sand-Alternatives Contest
July 22, 2015July 22, 2015

Quick–what two things do you need in abundance in order to horizontally drill and frack a well? Yep–water and sand. The two together make up 99.5% of what goes down the borehole to drill and frack a shale well. Water is used to fracture or break open the rock and deliver the sand, which is called a proppant because some of it stays behind and “props open” the fractures in the rock, allowing gas and oil to escape into the borehole. The vast majority of truck trips to a well pad are to deliver water and sand. GE and Norwegian giant Statoil have teamed up to run an “Open Invitation Challenge” which is a contest for technology innovators to propose alternatives to water and sand, to reduce the amount of each and therefore reduce truck trips to and from well pads. The results are in for the sand challenge and five winners will each take home a check for $25,000. The winners have some fascinating technologies and if they meet certain other criteria are eligible for more money to develop and commercialize their technologies. And what are some of these interesting bits of tech? How about a polymer that swells to 10 times its initial size when liquid is added. Or a ceramic proppant that’s shapped in the form of an X acting like a tiny steel girder to keep rock fractures propped open. This is truly creative and potentially industry changing stuff…
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Industrywide Issues | Monongalia County | Sand/Proppant | West Virginia

DustPRO’s Innovative New Solution to Improve Frac Sand Safety in WV
July 17, 2015July 17, 2015

Preferred Technology, headquartered in Radnor, PA (near Philadelphia) has created a cool new product/technology called DustPRO. The new DustPRO coats frac sand with–something, not sure what–that helps the teeny tiny particles of sand behave and not get airborne where they can become a health hazard. Preferred/DustPRO announced yesterday the results of their very first application unit installed in the Marcellus/Utica in Morgantown, WV–and the results are very good indeed…
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Industrywide Issues | Lackawanna County | Landfills | Pennsylvania | Sand/Proppant

Fracsandphobia for Some Who Live Near Keystone Sanitary Landfill
July 7, 2015July 7, 2015

People are phobic (fearful) of the darnedest things. Some people are afraid of germs (germophobia). Some are afraid of spiders (arachnophobia). Some are even afraid of furry little kitty cats (ailurophobia). Seems that all of us have one phobia or another. Some folks who live near the Keystone Sanitary Landfill outside of Scranton, PA have a phobia over sand that may be hauled to the facility (an irrational fear of sand is eremikophobia). Because Keystone accepts drill cuttings and has, in the past, also been permitted to accept frac sand waste from drilling operations, some people who live in the area are afraid. Of what? That the sand may contain nasty fracking chemical residue and that residue will leach out of the ground and enter their bodies–ahhhhhh! Never mind that the residue in frac sand waste, chemicals like hydrochloric acid, is in such minuscule quantities it’s the equivalent of the amount of hydrochloric acid found in eye drops (yes, eye drops). But facts never get in the way of a good phobia–or a good lie spun by the likes of anti-drilling groups like Food & Water Watch that exist to stop legal, legitimate and safe businesses in the United States from operating…
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Chesapeake Energy | Energy Companies | Energy Services | Halliburton | Industrywide Issues | Range Resources Corp | Sand/Proppant | Schlumberger

DUG East Panelists Discuss the Critical Role of Sand in Drilling
June 29, 2015June 29, 2015

Some interesting tidbits from a roundtable discussion at last week’s Hart Energy DUG East conference. The panelists included reps from Chesapeake Energy, Range Resources, Halliburton and Schlumberger. Really, the biggest of the bigs when it comes to producers and oilfield services companies in the Marcellus Shale. A lot of the discussion seemed to revolve around the lowly grain of sand. It may surprise you (as it did us) to learn just how much sand is now being used per well in the Marcellus/Utica…
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Energy Services | Industrywide Issues | Sand/Proppant | Unimin | Webster County | West Virginia

Unimin Energy Opens 11th Marcellus/Utica Frac Sand Terminal
June 17, 2015June 17, 2015

A Texas-based company, Unimin Energy Solutions, has just opened its eleventh frac sand terminal–this one in Jerry Run, WV. The new terminal can store 20,000 tons of frac sand and load up to 25 trucks per hour. Uminim’s operations pretty much blanket the Marcellus and Utica Shale regions (see the map below), from northeast PA to southwest PA, various points in WV and even in eastern OH. There’s even a Uminim frac sand operation in Binghamton, NY, near MDN HQ! Here’s the low down on the newest Unimim facility in Jerry Run, along with a list of their other locations…
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Industrywide Issues | Research | Sand/Proppant

USGS Spotlight on What Makes Good Frac Sand & Where to Find It
June 2, 2015June 2, 2015

According to the latest research by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), there’s a reason that 70% of frac sand, used in fracking, comes from Wisconsin and Minnesota. The silica (or sand) mined in those Great Plains states has the best characteristics to be used in fracking. But there are other places–even places in the Marcellus/Utica–that are being mined for silica used for fracking. In an article titled “Frac Sand Sources in the United States” published in the May 2015 issue of Rock Products magazine, USGS researchers describe what makes good frac sand and where, in the Lower 48 U.S. state, it’s being mined commercially. We’ve extracted out a section (below) on where silica is mined in the Marcellus/Utica region…
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Energy Companies | EQT Corp | Greene County (PA) | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Sand/Proppant | West Virginia | Wetzel County

EQT Call: Fracking 1st Utica Well in June; Changing Proppant
April 29, 2015April 28, 2015

Last week MDN brought you EQT’s report on their first quarter earnings and performance (see EQT 1Q15: Production Volume Up 37%, but Price Received Down 33%). As is often the case with publicly traded companies, EQT’s top management hopped on an analyst phone call to discuss the results. And as sometimes happens, extra details came out on the call. During last Friday’s call, EQT management revealed in prepared comments and in a series of questions and answers that: (1) the company will begin fracking its first Utica well (in Greene County, PA) in early June; (2) the second Utica well EQT plans to drill will be in Wetzel County, WV; and (3) the company is considering a change to ceramic proppant instead of using sand–a move that will cost them an average of $2.5 million more per well than what they pay now using sand…
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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Research | Sand/Proppant | Wyoming County (PA)

DEP Begins Air Study Near Proposed Frac Sand Facility in NEPA
January 23, 2015January 23, 2015

For some time, MDN has followed the developing story in rural Tunkhannock, PA (Wyoming County) where D&I Silica, now owned by Hi-Crush Partners, wants to build a frac sand transfer station along a rail line. D&I lacked only one thing before they could begin construction–a permit from the county. Residents in the area are concerned that the silica, or frac sand, will become airborne and create health issues–so the county resisted in granting the permit. D&I took the county to court and the case was settled last November, allowing D&I to move forward. However, the county wanted to conduct an air quality study. The state Dept. of Environmental Protection said they would conduct an air quality study, but the county a private, third party company to do the study (see Deuling Air Quality Studies for NEPA Frac Sand Transfer Station). Once the county found out the air quality study would cost them $130,000, they decided the DEP’s study will do just fine, thank you very much. The county decided to pay $7,500 instead to have their independent, third party consultant review the study done by the DEP. Yesterday the DEP showed up and started to set up equipment for the study…
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Air Quality | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Sand/Proppant | Wyoming County (PA)

Deuling Air Quality Studies for NEPA Frac Sand Transfer Station
December 9, 2014December 9, 2014

MDN has tracked the case of a proposed D&I Silica (owned by Hi-Crush Partners) frac sand transfer facility in Tunkhannock (Wyoming County), PA and some of the ins and outs along the way. D&I is ready to build the facility but lacks one important permit–from the county. So D&I has sued to get it (see NEPA Town Residents Resist Frack Sand Transfer Station). That lawsuit was settled in November and construction will now go forward. We recently brought you a report from a resident and long-time reader of MDN on the situation (see Revisiting Frac Sand Facility Controversy in Tunkhannock, PA). We have a new update: Both the county and the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) are proposing air quality studies to ensure nearby residents are not exposed to silica dust which acts a lot like asbestos particles and can, in the most extreme cases, can cause lung cancer. The question is, whose study will get done, or will taxpayers pay for both studies?…
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Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Regulation | Sand/Proppant | Wyoming County (PA)

Revisiting Frac Sand Facility Controversy in Tunkhannock, PA
December 4, 2014December 4, 2014

We’re happy to bring you another perspective on the controversy in Tunkhannock, PA over a proposed frac sand transfer station. In October we told you about residents around Tunkhannock who are pushing back against a facility being proposed by Hi-Crush/D&I Silica (see NEPA Town Residents Resist Frack Sand Transfer Station). What caught our eye was the antics of one of the locals who dressed up in a canary outfit to conjure the image of a canary in the mine shaft. Seemed to us that perhaps anti-drillers were opposing the project. We then referenced the D&I project when we wrote about another frac sand facility where the town and company worked out their problems like adults (see WV Sand Company & Community Work Together to Solve Problem). We were recently contacted by an MDN subscriber who lives in Tunkhannock to say, “Hold there Jim, there is another side to this story…”
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Industrywide Issues | Marshall County | Pennsylvania | Sand/Proppant | West Virginia | Wyoming County (PA)

WV Sand Company & Community Work Together to Solve Problem
November 25, 2014November 25, 2014

Ahhh, what a breath of fresh frac sand-free air. A month ago MDN told you about Hi-Crush Partners’ desire to build a frac sand transfer station in Tunkhannock (Wyoming County), PA–a plan that’s meeting resistance from the local community (see NEPA Town Residents Resist Frack Sand Transfer Station). Hi-Crush is now in court with the county planning commission. Meanwhile, in Marshall County, WV, a frac sand facility built by Unimin Sand Co. resulted in (yes) sand particles blowing into the nearby community. Did the community rise up and demand the facility be closed? Did the sand company push back and sue? Nope. They worked together. Unimin is building six new storage silos to contain the sand and the community appreciates the high-paying jobs provided by the company. Note to Wyoming County Planning Commission: Have a talk with the people in Benwood, WV to see how adults react to these issues when they occur…
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Industrywide Issues | Research | Sand/Proppant

Sham Frac Sand Report: The Sky is Falling!
November 6, 2014November 6, 2014

Several anti-drilling groups have issued a “research report” that tries to shut down drilling based on the hazards of frac sand mining. The report, titled “Communities At Risk: Frac Sand Mining in the Upper Midwest,” was published by the Civil Society Institute’s Boston Action Research (BAR) and released in cooperation with Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Midwest Environmental Advocates (MEA). It is just the latest in a string of not-so-veiled attempts to shut down the miracle of hydraulic fracturing. We’ve written a number of times about the very serious issue of safely handling frac sand (see Silica Dust Exposure Topic A at ShaleSafe Conference in Wheeling for one example). We welcome real research that looks for solutions instead of hocus pocus “just stop drilling” solutions offered by the authors of this “report”…
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Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Sand/Proppant | Supply Chain

Center Port Transload Facility Already Up & Running in OH
November 3, 2014November 3, 2014

MDN reported last Friday about an auction happening this week in Hannibal, OH at the old Ormet aluminum smelting plant (see Out with Old Ormet Plant, In with New Center Port Transload Facility). Niagara Worldwide is converting the old plant into a new transload facility that will accept and redistribute frac sand, pipes and other materials and equipment used in the Marcellus and Utica Shale. As part of that story we floated some questions to Eric Spirtas, president of Niagara Worldwide about what they have planned (and the timing) for the facility. Here are those questions and his responses…
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