What Hi Crush does

Hi-Crush Partners LP is a US-based, publicly traded oilfield services company listed on the NYSE under the ticker HCR and headquartered in Houston, Texas. The company produces and supplies frac sand — the proppant used in hydraulic fracturing — primarily to oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) operators in the Permian Basin and other US shale plays. Its operations are structured as an industrial mining business with owned production facilities at Permian Basin Sand, a newly constructed Permian Basin facility, Whitehall, and Augusta, totaling 13.4 million tons of frac sand capacity after the 2017 Permian expansion. The company is organized as a limited partnership (LP), a structure historically associated with master limited partnerships (MLPs), and employed between 501 and 1,000 people at the time of the available data.

The company's core product is basin-local frac sand, with competitive positioning centered on the cost advantage of in-basin supply versus Northern White sand transported from distant mines. Hi-Crush's go-to-market is enterprise field sales directly to E&P operators, distributing tonnage from owned production facilities rather than via intermediaries. Pricing is not publicly disclosed but is inferred to be negotiated on a per-ton basis under multi-year contracts. The revenue model is hardware-style industrial sales (tons × price) rather than subscription or recurring software revenue, and is therefore exposed to commodity pricing cycles and Permian Basin drilling activity.

In 2017 Hi-Crush executed an aggressive growth strategy, deploying approximately $340 million across three acquisitions (Permian Basin Sand, the Whitehall facility, and the remaining interest in the Augusta Facility) and concurrently constructing a new Permian Basin production facility that came online in late Q3 2017. Cumulative capital raised across 2016-2018 totaled approximately $989 million across five funding rounds, financing both the acquisition program and the greenfield build-out. Leadership disclosed in the source material includes Dirk Hallen as Chief Executive Officer and Stephen White as Chief Operating Officer.

Name

Hi Crush

Legal name

Hi-Crush Partners LP

Website

https://hicrushinc.com

Company type

Public

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Hi-Crush Partners LP is a publicly traded US oilfield services company (NYSE: HCR) that produces and supplies frac sand for hydraulic fracturing to oil and gas E&P operators, primarily in the Permian Basin, with total production capacity of 13.4 million tons.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Industrial Proppant Sand

NAICS

Support Activities for Oil and Gas Operations (213112), Oil and Gas Field Machinery and Equipment Manufacturing (333132)

SIC

Oil & Gas Field Services, Nec (1389), Oil & Gas Field Machinery & Equipment (3533)

akta.pro primary industry

Pressure Pumping & Stimulation (Hydraulic Fracturing, Acidizing) (EUALABAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Well Completions & Stimulation (Hydraulic Fracturing, Sand Control) (EUALAAAE)

Keywords

• Frac sand production
• Proppant supply
• Hydraulic fracturing materials
• Oilfield logistics
• Industrial sand mining

Headquarters

HQ city

Houston

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Infrastructure, Personnel

Revenue model

1. Frac sand sales: Hi-Crush generated revenue through the production and sale of frac sand to oil and gas operators, with total frac sand capacity of 13.4 million tons following the Permian Basin facility completion. Revenue is driven by industrial-scale tonnage-based sales rather than recurring software-style streams.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Core offering

Hi-Crush Partners LP produces and supplies frac sand (proppant) for hydraulic fracturing operations in the oil and gas industry. The company operates production assets in the Permian Basin (Permian Basin Sand, Whitehall, and a newly constructed Permian Basin facility) and Wisconsin (Augusta), with total expected frac sand capacity of 13.4 million tons following the late-Q3 2017 Permian expansion. Hi-Crush sells to oil and gas exploration and production operators seeking high-volume, basin-local proppant supply for drilling and completions activity.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Frac Sand (Proppant)

Quantifiable outcome

• Total frac sand capacity of 13.4 million tons following completion of the Permian Basin production facility in late Q3 2017.
• +1 more outcomes

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Permian Basin SandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Hi-Crush Partners LP completed the acquisition of Permian Basin Sand as part of a broader $340 million acquisition program that also included the Whitehall facility and the remaining interest in the Augusta Facility. The acquisition was part of Hi-Crush's strategy to expand its frac sand production footprint and total capacity in the Permian Basin.
• Whitehall facilitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Hi-Crush Partners LP completed the acquisition of the Whitehall facility, contributing to the company's expanded frac sand production capacity. The Whitehall facility was part of the approximately $340 million total consideration for the combined acquisition program alongside Permian Basin Sand and the remaining Augusta Facility interest.
• Augusta FacilitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Hi-Crush Partners LP completed the acquisition of the remaining interest in the Augusta Facility, consolidating full ownership. The Augusta Facility was part of the approximately $340 million combined acquisition program alongside Permian Basin Sand and the Whitehall facility, supporting Hi-Crush's total frac sand capacity of 13.4 million tons.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Halliburton: Halliburton is a global oilfield services incumbent with a North America pressure pumping business that consumes frac sand at scale; it is comparable to Hi-Crush as a major buyer of proppant and as a broader competitor across completions services.

Direct peers

• Smart Sand Inc. Smart Sand is a pure-play frac sand producer operating the Oakdale mine in Wisconsin and developing in-basin Permian capacity, directly comparable to Hi-Crush as a Northern White and in-basin sand supplier to U.S. shale operators.
• Emerge Energy Services: Emerge Energy Services operated a frac sand mining segment (Vesta Terminals and Superior Silica Sands) that supplied Northern White and regional frac sand to the same oilfield customer base as Hi-Crush, making it a direct comparable in scale and product mix.
• U.S. Silica Holdings: U.S. Silica is a major frac sand and industrial minerals producer with both Northern White and in-basin Permian capacity, serving the same oilfield proppant customer base as Hi-Crush and competing head-to-head on tonnage supply.
• Black Mountain Sand: Black Mountain Sand is one of the largest in-basin frac sand producers in the Permian, directly competing with Hi-Crush on basin-local proppant supply, logistics, and tonnage pricing to Permian E&P operators.
• Covia Holdings (now part of Covia/Sibelco): Covia is a major industrial and frac sand producer with diverse mine footprint and a broad oilfield proppant portfolio, competing directly with Hi-Crush in frac sand supply to E&P operators across multiple basins.
• Atlas Energy Solutions: Atlas Energy Solutions is a direct peer and effectively the successor platform to Hi-Crush's Permian frac sand business, operating the largest position of high-quality frac sand in the Permian Basin and offering proppant logistics (Dune Express, PropFlow) and last-mile services to E&P operators.

Emerging players

• ProFrac Holding Corp. ProFrac is a U.S. pressure pumping and proppant logistics company with vertical integration into sand mining, making it a relevant peer through its overlapping proppant supply and completions services business relative to Hi-Crush.
• Carbo Ceramics: Carbo Ceramics is a leading producer of ceramic proppant and a provider of fracking sand and related oilfield services; while historically focused on ceramic beads, its diversification into sand makes it a partial direct peer to Hi-Crush in oilfield proppant supply.
• Liberty Oilfield Services: Liberty Oilfield Services is a leading U.S. hydraulic fracturing services provider and a major consumer of frac sand; it is comparable to Hi-Crush as a customer-adjacent counterparty in the completions value chain with overlapping Permian exposure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/HiCrushInc
• Facebookfacebook.com/HiCrushProppants

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Hi Crush