Abstract

The new oil price regime has left the North American frac sand industry in the unknown as shale gas and tight oil operations have stabilized across the continent. For the year ahead, how will the current environment impact on the market for proppants? Will the negative impact be absorbed by a rise in the volume of frac sand being used per well? The supply chain is under pressure to adopt cost-cutting strategies and navigating through the market has become increasingly complex. In addition to market constraints, logistics and transportation companies, together with rail and transloading facilities need to find practical solutions for responding to a low price regime. The existing US and Canadian transportation networks need to focus on efficiencies in order to economically serve a market now looking to cut costs. The overall market supply and logistical challenges are leading to market tightness and price volatilities, which are further aggravated by the added pressures on existing railroad facilities from developing crude-by-rail and from the overall shortages in storage capacity; furthermore, any adverse weather related events will only exacerbate the situation due to a lack of sufficient in-play storage facilities. The objective of The North American Frac Sand Conference 2019 will be to bring the frac sand supply chain industry together to evaluate solutions for overcoming the current market and logistical challenges of supplying frac sand to well sites. Thank you to all of our supporters and participants from previous conference, here’s a short clip below.