To: Sam who wrote (187038 ) 12/9/2014 11:52:58 PM From: Brian Sullivan 1 RecommendationRecommended By isopatch
Respond to of 206093 Sam here is a good oil/energy investment post that you asked for: Frac Sand - The Devil Is In The Details Includes: EMES , HCLP , SLCA Summary: Frac sand stocks have taken a beating in the market in response to the drop in oil prices.Three large producers boast long-term contracts for the majority of their capacity.However, not all contracts are equal; HCLP’s take-or-pay contracts appear to be superior.Quick Background Many others have covered this better than I have, so I'll refer you to their articles ( bull case / bear case ) for a more detailed explanation, but, in a sentence, frac sand is used by the oil and gas industry to prop open underground shale rock formations in order to release hydrocarbons. The recent drop in proppant ("frac sand" or "frack sand") companies' stock prices has sparked much discussion over whether now is the time to buy. Hi-Crush LP (NYSE: HCLP ) is down over 45% from its $71.88 high in September before the crash in oil prices. Emerge (NYSE: EMES ) is down over 60% since its August high. US Silica (NYSE: SLCA ) is down over 55% since its September high. This analysis examines the strength of each companies' long-term contracts.Hi-Crush LP The drop in price comes despite the fact that Hi-Crush has a high majority of their sand under contract for the next few years. Hi-Crush has 88% of its capacity for 2015 under take-or-pay contracts, with an average contract length of 4.2 years. The latest contract announcement (that I am aware of) came on October 14, 2014 in an extension with Halliburton when WTI was at $81.72. Also during Q3 2014, Hi-Crush "increased annual volumes with two of (its) legacy customers" and "entered into two new five year take-or-pay supply agreements". Further, "the majority of (HCLP's) long term contracts contain fixed annual escalators," according to Co-CEO Bob Rasmus. More at:seekingalpha.com