Thursday, April 17, 2014

Strong end demand in oil and natural gas production

According to industry estimates, global guar gum demand grew 33% to 681k metric tons in the 2011-12 selling season from 510k in 2010-2011. These same sources estimate a more modest 4% increase in demand in 2012-2013 to 711k metric tons. India is the world’s leading supplier of guar gum, producing roughly 80% of global supplies. The US purchased 75% of India’s guar gum output in 2011-2012, with China a distant second at 6%. Of this US demand, 62% of it was for industrial grade guar gum, with the majority of that demand being fueled by the oil and gas industry. Guar Global will focus on producing hydroxypropyl guar gum for the US oil and gas industry, where it is valued for its unique gelling properties, making it ideal for resource extraction in drilling and hydraulic fracturing projects. Guar gum is the main 
natural (EPA safe) viscosifier for fracking fluids. It mixes with water, leaves behind minimal residue and is easy to crosslink and clean out. It is estimated that each frack utilizes roughly 10,000 lbs of guar gum. Demand for natural gas shows no sign of slowing down, and the International Energy Outlook 2013 predicts global natural gas demand to rise 1.5% annually through 2040


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