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www.rockproducts.com Frac Sand Insider May 2015 | 63 Domestic Frac Sand for the period 1991 (the frst year that statistical data were available) through 2012 (Baker Hughes Inc., 2014). Frac sand values are FOB plant and do not account for the value added to some sands that are processed further on site, specifcally RCS. From 1990 to 2002, the demand for sand as a proppant was relatively level aver- aging about 1.5 Mt per year or about 6 percent of the approximately 25 Mt of industrial sand sold or used annually during the period. The average price per ton of frac sand during this period was about $50 per ton FOB plant in average 2013 dollars. From 1990 to 2002, the number of onshore horizontal drilling rigs operating on a weekly basis in the United States averaged about 60 units or 7 percent of active onshore wells. Vertical and directional drilling rigs dominated U.S. onshore drilling activity over the time period with about a 73 and 20 percent share, respectively (Baker-Hughes, 2014). In 2003, nearly 2.2 Mt of sand was sold or used for fracking, a 45 percent increase over the previous year. The rapid growth in the demand for frac sand at this time was a direct result of the pe- troleum industry's start of aggressive horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing programs in unconventional oil and gas targets contained in tight sedimentary formations. In 2009, the global recession and lower petroleum prices were refected by a decrease in the number of active drilling rigs and a slowdown in the growth rate of frac sand consumption. By 2012, oil petroleum prices had recovered and the rate of growth in frac sand demand accelerated. In 2012, there was an average of approximately 1,150 horizontal rotary drilling rigs in the United States operating per week, which represented nearly 60 percent of the total number of active drilling rigs. At the same time, the number of vertical and directional (angled or deviated drilling, but not horizontal) active drilling rigs represented a 29 percent and 11 percent share, respectively (Baker Hughes Inc., 2014). The com- pound annual growth rate (CAGR) for frac sand sold or used for the years 2003 through 2012 was nearly 32 percent. The USGS reported, based on voluntary respondents to a survey (a Congressionally approved method of data collection per- formed by the USGS), that approximately 31.1 Mt of silica sand was sold or used as proppant in 2012. Frac sand represented nearly 62 percent share of the industrial silica sand sold or used in the United States with an estimated value of nearly 2 billion dollars (avg. 2013) FOB plant. By 2012, the average price had risen to about $64 per ton FOB plant (U.S. Geological Survey, 1991-2014). In 2014, prop- pant sales FOB mine and factory in United States of sand, ceramic, and RCS proppants were anticipated to be about 4 billion dollars, an increase of about 20 percent over 2013. In 2014, frac sand was expected to represent an estimated 65 percent share of this amount with ceramics and RCS representing about roughly 20 and 15 percent, respectively (PacWest, 2014b). Estimates vary, but shares by weight in the 2011 to 2013 period represented approx- imately 80-90 percent for frac sand, with the balance split roughly Survey, 1991-2014).