The possibility of a renewed demand for western Wisconsin’s frac sand in 2017 was discussed on Wisconsin Public Radio’s The West Side on Monday, December 12 at 10 a.m. on 88.3 WHWC-FM/ Menomonie-Eau Claire and 88.7 WRFW-FM/ River Falls.
Host Rich Kremer was joined by guests Rich Budinger, Operations Manager for Fairmont Santrol, and Samir Nangia, a director of consulting with IHS Energy Insight. For the past two years the frac sand industry in Wisconsin has been experiencing a lull. Many facilities were forced to lay off workers and shut down between 2015 and 2016. Now, with oil prices on the rise once again, some experts are saying the resulting increase in drilling will bring the demand for frac sand back to the level it was at in 2014. In preparation for this renewed demand, companies including Hi-Crush Proppants, Superior Silica Sands and Fairmont Santrol have begun to add resources and rehire workers at facilities across western Wisconsin.