Fracturing
In Canada, the future of the natural gas industry is to look deeper, look to existing gas wells that may have prospects at a different geologic age than the source of current production (called a recompletion), and look for natural gas in coal beds (coal bed methane — a huge source of new supply in the United States, but embryonic in Canada).
Calfrac's principle business is gas well fracturing, a stimulation process whereby an artificial propellant called "sand," is pumped at high speed, under pressure and with chemicals, into a wellbore, causing the rock to fracture, thus improving the ability of natural gas to flow into the wellbore. The attraction of the gas well fracturing business is that activity is not sensitive to oil prices (unless it causes gas prices to fall), and activity is not dependent on the drilling of new wells, as old low productivity gas wells are prospective new gas wells in a different zone. And if prices remain very high, coal bed methane production will be a booming industry.
Calfrac is the industry leader in Canada in the shallow gas fracturing business, which includes new shallow wells, recompletions and coal bed methane, as well as a competitor in the new, deeper gas well fracturing business. Except for new gas well drilling, Calfrac has no exposure to drilling rig activity, which is the most volatile area of oilfield services.