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CONTACT:
Susan E. Lindsey;
phone 502-775-7345;
cell 502-551-0830
email: Susan.E.Lindsey@Saint-Gobain.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saint-Gobain Proppants Expands Globally:
China, South America, USA
Fort Smith, Ark. (Feb. 24, 2005) – Saint-Gobain Proppants has launched several domestic and international production expansion projects designed to better serve the oil and gas industry. In 2005-2006, total production capacity will increase by 125,000 metric tons (275 million pounds) per year.
“These expansions will ensure a consistent and secure supply source for our customers as they extend their businesses around the globe,” says Tom Duncan, general manager of Saint-Gobain Proppants. “We intend to be a leading, long-term supplier to this market, providing quality proppants wherever our customers need them.”
Saint-Gobain Proppants acquired a manufacturing plant in Guanghan, China in late 2004 and has upgraded the facility to produce 10,000 metric tons per year of world-class quality proppants. This plant is currently being brought on line. In addition, engineering for a 25,000-ton plant to be built on the same site has been completed; construction has started and is expected to be finished in early 2006. These plants will serve the growing markets for proppants in China, Russia and Southeast Asia.
Saint-Gobain has also approved construction of a 50,000-metric-ton proppant facility in South America. The plant will be brought on line in 2006, and the facility’s capacity is expected to increase rapidly thereafter.
A 40,000-metric-ton capacity expansion at the Fort Smith, Ark. plant was recently completed and trial production is currently under way. Full production is anticipated during second quarter of this year.
“These initiatives show the commitment of the Saint-Gobain Group to the ceramic proppants business, which is considered a key business in the Saint-Gobain portfolio,” says Jorgen Pedersen, vice president and general manager of Saint-Gobain NorPro. “In addition to capacity investments, Saint-Gobain has invested in research and development for this business and the company expects to be able to transfer technology from its other ceramics businesses into the ceramic proppants business.”
Proppants are spherical ceramic beads, about the size of a grain of sand, that are fired at a high temperature and are able to maintain their integrity under immense pressure. Proppants are inserted into hydraulically created underground fractures surrounding oil and gas wells to “prop” open fractures and increase the productivity of the wells. Saint-Gobain Proppants (formerly Norton Proppants) has provided proppants to the hydrocarbon extraction industry for 25 years.
Saint-Gobain Proppants is part of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain (Paris). Saint-Gobain is a leading producer of construction products (building materials, insulation and piping), high-performance materials (abrasives, industrial ceramics, high-performance plastics, and reinforcements), flat glass, and glass containers. The company is also a leading distributor of building products in Europe. One of the top 100 industrial companies in the world, Saint-Gobain’s 2004 sales were approximately $40 billion.
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