• Oil prices hovered around 2019 highs at press time, bolstered by OPEC-led supply cuts and U.S. sanctions on Venezuela and Iran, but were capped by slowing growth in the global economy. Crude inventories rose by 3.7 million barrels in the week to Feb. 15, the U.S. Energy Information Administration said, compared with analysts’ expectations for an increase of 3.1 million barrels. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $57.04 a barrel. WTI hit a fresh 2019 high of $57.61 earlier in the day. Brent crude futures rose by 10 cents to $67.18 after touching a 2019 peak of $67.38.
• Source Energy Services Ltd. has made changes to its board of directors. A.S. (Stew) Hanlon has been appointed as chairman of the board of directors, while Cody Church has resigned from the board of directors and will be replaced by Michael (Mick) MacBean.
• West Texas sand used in the hydraulic fracturing process will drop 19 percent this year to about $30 a ton compared to 2018, according to industry consultant Rystad Energy AS. Miners in and around Wisconsin that controlled 75 percent of the market in 2014 will see that diminish to 34 percent in 2020, Ryan Carbrey, Rystad’s senior vice president of shale research, told Petroleum Connection’s Frac Sand Industry Update conference in Houston.