据美国彭博新闻社休斯敦报道，由于美国石油勘探公司调整以适应石油需求和价格下降，压裂工人3年来首次正在减少向页岩井中泵入砂子。
根据科拉斯资源公司公布的统计数据，美国页岩勘探公司在本季度期间平均每天向页岩井泵入大约290万磅的沙子，沙子泵入量自2017年第4季度以来首次减少增加。泵入每口页岩井的沙子数量是压裂效率的一个关键测量，这是因为泵入更多的沙子通常意味着更多的岩石裂缝允许原油流出。
科拉斯能源公司的创始人丹尼尔?克鲁斯在周四（9月10日）的一份报告中写道：“本季度美国勘探与生产公司投入的压裂作业没有得到同样的回报。如果压裂效率继续下降，它将给美国页气生产带来更大的压力。”
由于疫情大流行削弱了全球对石油衍生产品的需求，压裂工人和其他石油行业雇佣的工人在这次历史性的原油崩盘中遭受了最严重的打击。全球服务巨头斯伦贝谢公司和哈里伯顿公司正将注意力转向北美以外的地区，未来国际销售将占它们业务的更多份额。
科拉斯资源公司称，在美国压裂作业队伍的数量在5月中旬降到了100支低谷以后，已有40支压裂作业队伍重返工作，其中大部分压裂作业队伍重返位于西德克萨斯和新墨西哥州的二叠系盆地。
李峻 编译自 彭博社
原文如下：
Frac pumping volumes lowest since 2017 as shale slowdown continues
Fracers are blasting less sand into shale wells for the first time in almost three years as oil explorers adjust to lower oil demand and prices amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Shale explorers are pumping an average of roughly 2.9 million pounds of sand a day during the current quarter, marking the first time since the final three months of 2017 that growth has subsided, according to Coras Research LLC. Sand per well is a key measurement of frac efficiency because more sand typically means more of the rock fissures that allow crude to flow.
“E&Ps are not getting the same bang for their frac buck this quarter,” Daniel Cruise, founder of Coras, wrote in a report Fracers and other hired hands of the oil patch have been among the most beaten up during the historic crude crash as the global pandemic saps demand for oil-derived products. Global service giants Schlumberger and Halliburton Co. are turning their attention outside of North America, with expectations for international sales to make up more of their business going forward.
After the number of active U.S. frac crews bottomed out at 100 in mid-May, 40 crews have been put back to work, mostly in the Permian Basin of West Texas and New Mexico, according to Coras.