Kansas City Southern participates in frac sand summit

Last week, Kansas City Southern Senior Sales and Market Account Executive Josh Monroe served on a panel addressing frac sand transportation capabilities in North America at the Proppants Summit in Denver. The conference sought to address whether the supply of frac sand and proppants could keep up with the exploding shale boom.

Producers and suppliers involved in extracting crude oil or natural gas from shales are interested in what railroad, truck and barge companies are offering to keep the logistics chain moving efficiently for frac sand and other drilling materials, KCS officials said in an item posted on the “KCS News” web page.

Half of the frac sand destinations on KCS are served by a direct connection to a short line, they said. During the summit, Monroe illustrated the Class I’s direct access to Shreveport, La., which is home to the Haynesville Shale, and Corpus Christi and Laredo, Texas, which are home to the Eagle Ford Shale.

KCS also has direct access to the Port of Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico, which is an ideal entry point for ceramic proppants, a manmade version of frac sand that’s produced in Asia, KCS officials said.