E&P companies use sand that produces the greatest economic return. Rail transportation costs make up ~50% of the price of Midwestern sand sold in Texas. Given this fact, can Northern White sand from the Midwest (WI/MN/IL) compete with Texas sand today (and in the future)? This post summarizes some points I mentioned in a recent talk at an American Institute of Professional Geologists meeting.
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Sand from Brady, Texas, can be trucked directly to the Permian Basin&#;a major cost advantage. However, one logistics person told me it required 5 hours to truck sand one way from Brady to his drilling pad. He preferred to use Northern White sand transported by rail into the middle of the basin where trucking times were only one hour one way.
Recently several mines have been proposed in the Permian Basin, a very active region for oil drilling and fracking. Hi-Crush is already building a mine and processing plant near Kermit, TX, and other companies&#; proposals are in the news. If this sand is &#;good enough&#; for use in the Permian Basin, then it becomes easier to consider local Texas sand for well completion.
How good is Texas sand? Typically it meets API specifications for roundness, sphericity, clusters, and turbidity. Some have reported problems with Texas sand not passing the acid solubility test, but this is not as big of an issue for the slickwater fracks common in the Permian Basin.
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Northern White sand has one major advantage over Texas sands&#;higher crush strengths. Companies in Wisconsin where I do much consulting work report 8K to 11K crush strengths for 40/70-mesh sand. Companies producing sand near Brady, TX, report a 6K crush strength for 40/70-mesh sand. Black Mountain Sand is proposing two sand mines in the Permian Basin, and they report a 7K crush strength for 40/70-mesh sand. Higher crush strength means Northern White sand can be used to hydraulically fracture deeper shale zones than Texas sand.
Will Texas sand be &#;good enough&#; to satisfy much of the sand demand in the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford? That is the million dollar question. I will be watching any sand mines being developed in the Permian AND the performance of that sand.
Here are a few other trends to follow in the Northern White sand patch:
Dr. Kent M. Syverson (P.G.) is a professor of geology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He has been a frac sand consultant 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 several frac sand conferences in Texas and is knowledgeable about the properties of Texas brown sands and Texas last-mile logistics.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website frac proppant.