While news about hydraulic fracturing has overwhelmingly focused on its impact on the environment, the market for hydraulic fracturing actually has exhibited behaviors typically associated with the oil and gas industry, i.e., boom and bust.
After two years of excess capacity, demand for hydraulic fracturing services in North America has "turned a corner" and is showing signs of picking up, according to oil-services heavy-weight Halliburton Co., one of the biggest providers of fracking services.
The company is adding crews in preparation for a rise in demand, said David Lesar, CEO of Halliburton, during a conference call announcing second-quarter earnings. It is also planning to introduce new fracking equipment in the final quarter of 2014 and throughout 2015.
Lesar pointed out that the turn was anticipated for months but many people were skeptical that a positive change was coming. He stated that the recovery was no longer a prediction, but was happening at the moment and he was "even more excited" than at the end of the previous quarter, Bloomberg reported.
Over the past two years the market has been practically flooded with fracking companies and their production, which has kept prices lower than anywhere else in the world. But it seems that the market is reaching a state of equilibrium, as Halliburton is not the only company seeing the turn. A report by PacWest Consulting Partners released in May predicted that prices in the United States would go up two percent in 2014, picking up a further four percent in 2015.
