Shortage of Frack Gear Is Helping to Hold Back US Oil Production

In a dusty corner of Oklahoma, close to where Erle Halliburton founded his eponymous oil services empire 103 years ago, a group of workers shows why US oil production growth has been underwhelming in spite of a price boom.

This particular Halliburton Co. crew is busy cannibalizing older frack pumps -- the powerful, truck-mounted engines that help to squeeze hydrocarbons out of shale rock -- to meet the high demand for gear in US oilfields. It’s hectic work, and currently extremely profitable.

Halliburton has a large amount of formerly used frack gear parked in its fields in Duncan that workers can pull parts from in order to keep its existing fleet of pumps working in US shale fields.

Source: Google Maps

Halliburton and its competitors are choosing this path -- the reconditioning of existing equipment -- over significant ...