Halliburton, ProFrac settle lawsuits over fracking technology

Aug 16 (Reuters) - Oilfield technology rivals Halliburton (HAL.N), opens new tab and ProFrac (ACDC.O) have resolved a pair of U.S. lawsuits over electric fracking technology, according to filings in Texas federal court.

Halliburton and ProFrac unit U.S. Well Services told the court on Thursday that they had reached a settlement in principle and asked to pause two cases while they finalized it. Details of the settlement were not included in the court filings, and attorneys and spokespeople for the companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment and more information.

U.S. Well fended off some of Halliburton's patent infringement allegations at trial last year. A second trial on related Halliburton patents was set to begin later this month.

Electric fracking, or e-frac, uses electricity from natural gas or power grids to drive pumps instead of diesel fuel. Oil and gas companies have been adopting the technology in efforts to reduce the carbon emissions created by fracking.

Houston-based Halliburton said in its lawsuit, filed in 2022, that U.S. Well's e-frac equipment and services infringed several Halliburton patents covering e-frac technology.

Halliburton sued following a U.S. Well patent lawsuit from 2021 over Halliburton's e-frac fleet. U.S. Well's patents from that case have since been declared invalid.

ProFrac, a Willow Park, Texas-based oilfield services company backed by billionaires Dan and Farris Wilks, bought Houston-based U.S. Well in 2022.

The cases are Halliburton Energy Services Inc v. U.S. Well Services LLC, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Nos. 6:21-cv-00367 and 6:22-cv-00905.