Fracking boom drives up price of frac sand
The US fracking boom is pushing the price of frac sand to new highs. Frac sand, or proppant, is integral to the fracking process. Normally, this means quartz sand held in chemical solutions, which is then pumped into the hydraulic fracture to keep it open. Credit Suisse analysts predict demand will rise to 73 million tons this year, an increase 30% from 2014's peak demand.

The North American shale boom owes its success to the hydraulic fracking techniques that unlocked previously inaccessible hydrocarbons.

And successful fracking depends on proppant — in most cases quartz sand, which is suspended in water and chemical solutions and pumped into the fractured formation.

While exploration and production companies have been fracking for decades, the practice has increased exponentially in the unconventional gas rush — as has consumption of frac sand.

Analysts at Credit Suisse project demand for frac sand to surge to 73 million tons in 2017, up 30% over the 2014 peak in demand.

Photo: Wisconsin Geological & Natural History Survey

All of the factors that make for an ideal frac sand are met in western Wisconsin. Jay Zambito, Wisconsin Geological & Natural History Survey

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