Texas oil is booming, and so are the sand mines needed for fracking the wells. But hydraulic fracturing leader Halliburton is warning that its surging sand use is finally topping out, and maybe even falling. Fairmount Santrol, an Ohio company, announced this week it will build yet another sand mine in the Permian Basin to churn out more Texas sand, which is mixed with water and chemicals to crack open the shale rock and release the crude oil. With several new mines proposed, frac sand production Texas could more than double within two years, adding about 30 million tons annually. As drillers have pushed to become more efficient in producing oil, wells have become deeper and longer, and the amount of sand used to frac each well has surged. The largest wells now consume up to 25,000 tons – 50 million pounds – of sand each, up from 1,500 […]