U.S. Silica Holdings’ third-quarter results fell short of estimates Oct. 23 as North American oil and gas producers finished fewer wells due to pipeline bottlenecks and budget constraints.

Weakness in completing wells in the Permian by major shale producers have added pressure on U.S. oilfield service firms and weighed on demand for frac sand.

The number of drilled-but-uncompleted wells in the U.S. climbed to a record 8,389 in September, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration .

The Maryland-based company said revenue from its oil and gas proppants business, its biggest, rose about 5.6% to $302.5 million.

“While we will likely see more white space on our customer’s calendars for the rest of this year, we believe these near-term challenges are transitory,” CEO Bryan Shinn said in a statement.

The company’s net income fell to $6.3 million, or 8 cents per share, in the third-quarter ended Sept. 30, from $41.3 million, or 50 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 44 cents per share missing analysts' estimates of 59 cents per share, according to Refinitiv data.

Total revenue rose 22.7% to $423.2 million. Analysts were expecting revenue of $467.9 million.

Onshore