Frac Sand latest news

• November 2016

  OPEC agrees to curb oil output

  30 November 2016

  Following a ministerial meeting in Vienna, the organisation has announced it will reduce output to 32.5m barrels a day. The much-needed supply cuts could pave the way for an uptick in oil prices, which in turn could help to boost oilfield mineral consumption.

• Preferred Sands: Permanent proppant shifts

  30 November 2016

  The downturn in the oil and gas sector has caused a shift away from ceramic proppants as E&P firms look to increase productivity and lower costs. IM spoke to Preferred Sands’ Michael O’Neill, who believes a number of these trends are here to stay.

• Pricing notice: Christmas schedule

  28 November 2016

  The publication of Industrial Minerals’ price assessments will be affected by the Christmas holidays.

• Athabasca reports Q3 net loss

  21 November 2016

  Canadian aggregates producer Athabasca was hit by wildfire issues and subdued oil and gas activity in the second quarter of this year. While the company has reported a Q3 loss, it noted significant increase in demand sequentially.

• Fracking application approved for UK energy firm

  15 November 2016

  IGas has been granted planning permission for the development of a hydrocarbon wellsite and the drilling of up to two exploratory wells to assess fracking potential in North Nottinghamshire, UK.

• Scotland publishes fracking research as it mulls over moratorium

  10 November 2016

  The Scottish government has released a series of reports on the impact of fracking in the country pertaining to economic, environmental and health impacts of the practice. While a moratorium on fracking is currently in place, the government is expected to make a decision on the future of the unconventional oil and gas industry next year, following a public consultation.

• US Silica sees signs of oil and gas recovery

  07 November 2016

  While the company reported a net loss year-on-year, revenues from its oil and gas segment have increased sequentially on the back of higher frac sand sales. Unfavourable mix issues and pricing pressure continued throughout most of the third quarter.

• Savings pay off as MTI boosts earnings

  04 November 2016

  Some key end markets such as oil and gas and steelmaking remained sluggish and affected overall sales, but the company saw improvement in earnings in Q3.

• Fairmount Santrol sees sequential improvement in revenues

  04 November 2016

  Although uncertainty continues to prevail in the oil and gas sector, the company saw frac sand volumes and revenue improve on a sequential basis, indicating early signs of improvement in the proppant market.