Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator Continental Resources published 1,382 disclosures with quantity data missing for at least some records. We summarize those omissions here.
A chemical disclosure instrument such as FracFocus depends on accurate and complete data. Individual disclosures with poor or missing data can erode the trust of users for the entire system. FracFocus, unfortunately, has many disclosures with missing data. This post is part of Open-FF’s effort to improve FracFocus data integrity and to alert stakeholders to these data weaknesses.
Along with the identity of a chemical used in a fracking operation, the quantity is critical information. The range of material quantities reported in FracFocus stretches from less than one pound to over a million pounds. When quantity data is missing, a reader of a disclosure won’t be able to tell if, say, a hydrochloric acid record is for one pound or one million pounds – the difference between a small jar’s worth and many tanker trucks full.
Continental Resources omissions
We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, Continental Resources, Inc. As of this date, we’ve found 1,382 disclosures with at least one omission, or 44.7% of all of the company’s disclosures. The following chart shows when those fracking jobs occurred and how many records were missing data.
Compared to other companies
More than half of all operators reporting to FracFocus had NO records with quantity omissions. In the following graph, each point is an operator. The companies without omissions are not on this graph. Just 25% of companies are above the horizontal line, and 25% to the right of the vertical line. Continental Resources, Inc is highlighted in orange. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Continental Resources, Inc is part of that club.
Which states?
These flawed disclosures are for fracking jobs in the following states.
| State | number of disclosures with omissions |
|---|---|
| North Dakota | 735 |
| Oklahoma | 474 |
| Montana | 69 |
| Wyoming | 56 |
| Texas | 47 |
| New Mexico | 1 |
Which chemicals?
The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Continental Resources, Inc were affected.
| CASRN | Name | Molecular structure | Number of missing values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 67-56-1 | Methanol |  | 359 |
| 107-21-1 | Ethylene glycol |  | 354 |
| 64-19-7 | Acetic acid |  | 345 |
| 127-08-2 | Potassium acetate |  | 308 |
| 10049-04-4 | Chlorine dioxide |  | 208 |
| 2634-33-5 | 1,2-Benzisothiazolin-3-one |  | 174 |
| 533-74-4 | Dazomet |  | 174 |
| 7632-00-0 | Sodium nitrite |  | 173 |
| 9004-32-4 | Edifas B | no image | 171 |
| 11138-66-2 | Corn sugar gum | no image | 171 |
| 9005-65-6 | Polysorbate 80 | no image | 152 |
| 68308-89-4 | Fatty acids, C18-unsatd., dimers, ethoxylated propoxylated | no image | 145 |
| 36089-45-9 | 2-Propenoic acid, 2-ethylhexyl ester, polymer with 2-hydroxyethyl 2-propenoate | no image | 145 |
| 68937-55-3 | Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me, 3-hydroxypropyl Me, ethoxylated propoxylated | no image | 145 |
| 7647-01-0 | Hydrochloric acid |  | 125 |
| 67-63-0 | Isopropanol |  | 123 |
| 75-21-8 | Ethylene oxide |  | 115 |
| 77-92-9 | Citric acid |  | 115 |
| 111-76-2 | 2-Butoxyethanol |  | 114 |
| 112-80-1 | Oleic acid |  | 114 |
| 68-12-2 | N,N-Dimethylformamide |  | 114 |
| 123-91-1 | 1,4-Dioxane |  | 113 |
| 75-56-9 | (+/-)-1,2-Propylene oxide |  | 111 |
| 1338-41-6 | Anhydrosorbitol stearate | no image | 111 |
| 143-18-0 | Potassium oleate |  | 107 |
| 1341-49-7 | Ammonium hydrogen difluoride |  | 107 |
| 12125-01-8 | Ammonium fluoride |  | 106 |
| 10222-01-2 | 2,2-Dibromo-3-nitrilopropionamide |  | 85 |
| 9002-84-0 | Polytetrafluoroethylene |  | 75 |
| 14807-96-6 | Talc | no image | 75 |
| 50-00-0 | Formaldehyde |  | 70 |
| 64-02-8 | Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt |  | 68 |
| 1310-73-2 | Sodium hydroxide |  | 66 |
| 64-17-5 | Ethanol |  | 65 |
| 7173-51-5 | Didecyldimethylammonium chloride |  | 61 |
| 7681-52-9 | Sodium hypochlorite |  | 51 |
| 79-06-1 | Acrylamide |  | 41 |
| 81741-28-8 | Tributyltetradecylphosphonium chloride |  | 40 |
| 9003-05-8 | Polyacrylamide |  | 38 |
| 63148-62-9 | Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me | no image | 35 |
| 67762-90-7 | Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me, reaction products with silica | no image | 35 |
| 52-51-7 | Bronopol |  | 32 |
| 112-53-8 | 1-Dodecanol |  | 31 |
| 39322-78-6 | Potassium lauryl phosphate | no image | 31 |
| 9016-88-0 | 1,4-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, polymer with 1,2-ethanediol and .alpha.-hydro-.omega.-hydroxypoly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) | no image | 31 |
| 9043-30-5 | Polyoxyethylene isotridecyl ether |  | 31 |
| 61791-26-2 | PEG-10 Hydrogenated tallow amine | no image | 29 |
| 72283-36-4 | Oxirane, 2-methyl-, polymer with oxirane, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate, methyl ether | no image | 29 |
| 110-30-5 | N,N’-Ethylene distearylamide |  | 29 |
| 98-86-2 | Acetophenone |  | 27 |
| 7631-86-9 | Silica |  | 27 |
| 111-30-8 | Glutaraldehyde |  | 24 |
| 31512-74-0 | Polyquaternium 42 |  | 24 |
| 68991-48-0 | Alcohols, C7-21, ethoxylated | no image | 23 |
| 68424-85-1 | C12-16-Alkylbenzyldimethylammonium chlorides |  | 22 |
| 84133-50-6 | Alcohols, C12-14-secondary, ethoxylated | no image | 21 |
| 557-04-0 | Magnesium stearate |  | 19 |
| 68002-97-1 | Ethoxylated C10-16 alcohols | no image | 19 |
| 68551-12-2 | Alcohols, C12-16, ethoxylated | no image | 18 |
| 68439-50-9 | Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated | no image | 18 |
| 104-55-2 | 3-Phenylprop-2-enal |  | 18 |
| 68439-46-3 | Alcohols, C9-11, ethoxylated | no image | 17 |
| 7447-40-7 | Potassium chloride |  | 16 |
| 112-88-9 | 1-Octadecene |  | 15 |
| 107-19-7 | Propargyl alcohol |  | 15 |
| 14808-60-7 | Quartz (SiO2) | no image | 15 |
| 629-73-2 | 1-Hexadecene |  | 14 |
| 1338-43-8 | Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate |  | 13 |
| 68951-67-7 | Alcohols, C14-15, ethoxylated | no image | 11 |
| 7727-54-0 | Diammonium peroxydisulfate |  | 11 |
| 10604-69-0 | Ammonium acrylate |  | 10 |
| 9000-30-0 | alpha-D-Galactopyrano-beta-D-mannopyranan | no image | 9 |
| 64742-47-8 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light | no image | 9 |
| 91-20-3 | Naphthalene |  | 8 |
| 540-72-7 | Sodium thiocyanate |  | 8 |
| 12125-02-9 | Ammonium chloride |  | 7 |
| 78330-21-9 | Alcohols, C11-14-isoalcohols, C13-rich, ethoxylated | no image | 7 |
| 1310-58-3 | Potassium hydroxide |  | 7 |
| 56-81-5 | Glycerol |  | 6 |
| 1332-77-0 | Boron potassium oxide (B4K2O7) |  | 6 |
| 68123-18-2 | Phenol, 4,4′-(1-methylethylidene)bis-, polymer with 2-(chloromethyl)oxirane, 2-methyloxirane and oxirane | no image | 6 |
| 9003-11-6 | Poloxalene | no image | 6 |
| 66455-15-0 | Alcohols, C10-14, ethoxylated | no image | 6 |
| 7789-38-0 | Sodium bromate |  | 6 |
| 3252-43-5 | Dibromoacetonitrile |  | 6 |
| 104-76-7 | 2-Ethyl-1-hexanol |  | 6 |
| 25085-02-3 | Acrylamide-sodium acrylate copolymer | no image | 5 |
| 1113-55-9 | 2-Bromo-3-nitrilopropionamide |  | 5 |
| 57-55-6 | 1,2-Propylene glycol |  | 5 |
| 55566-30-8 | Tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium sulfate |  | 5 |
| 66402-68-4 | Ceramic materials and wares, chemicals | no image | 5 |
| 577-11-7 | Docusate sodium |  | 5 |
| 10043-52-4 | Calcium chloride |  | 5 |
| 61723-83-9 | Polyoxyethylene sorbitol tetraoleate | no image | 5 |
| 9003-35-4 | Bakelite | no image | 5 |
| 25038-72-6 | Vinylidene chloride/methylacrylate copolymer | no image | 4 |
| 7758-98-7 | Copper sulfate |  | 4 |
| 68527-49-1 | Thiourea, polymer with formaldehyde and 1-phenylethanone | no image | 4 |
| 25322-68-3 | Polyethylene glycol |  | 4 |
| 541-02-6 | Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane |  | 4 |
| 1762-95-4 | Ammonium isothiocyanate |  | 4 |
| 9005-67-8 | Polysorbate 60 | no image | 4 |
| 556-67-2 | Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane |  | 4 |
| 540-97-6 | Dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane |  | 4 |
| 57-13-6 | Urea |  | 4 |
| 64742-94-5 | Solvent naphtha, petroleum, heavy arom. | no image | 4 |
| 108-32-7 | Propylene carbonate |  | 4 |
| 91053-39-3 | Diatomaceous earth, calcined | no image | 3 |
| 7664-41-7 | Ammonia |  | 3 |
| 95-63-6 | 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene |  | 3 |
| 129828-36-0 | Ethanol, 2-amino-, [[[2-[(2-hydroxyethyl)(phosphonomethyl)amino]ethyl]imino]bis(methylene)]bis[phosphonate] (salt) | no image | 3 |
| 1120-24-7 | Decyldimethylamine |  | 3 |
| 7722-84-1 | Hydrogen peroxide |  | 3 |
| 78-40-0 | Triethyl phosphate |  | 3 |
| 9004-96-0 | Poly(oxyethylene) monoleate |  | 3 |
| 7758-19-2 | Sodium chlorite |  | 3 |
| 111-87-5 | 1-Octanol |  | 3 |
| 75-57-0 | Tetramethylammonium chloride |  | 3 |
| 112-30-1 | 1-Decanol |  | 3 |
| 9002-85-1 | Polyvinylidene chloride |  | 3 |
| 224635-63-6 | Acetic acid, reaction products with acetophenone, cyclohexylamine, formaldehyde and methanol | no image | 3 |
| 100-44-7 | Benzyl chloride |  | 3 |
| 71050-62-9 | 2-Propenoic acid, polymer with sodium phosphinate | no image | 3 |
| 34590-94-8 | Dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether |  | 3 |
| 75-07-0 | Acetaldehyde |  | 3 |
| 68412-54-4 | Polyoxyethylene branched-C9-alkylphenol | no image | 3 |
| 2605-79-0 | N,N-Dimethyldecylamine oxide |  | 3 |
| 68953-58-2 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, salts with bentonite | no image | 3 |
| 26100-47-0 | Ammonium acrylate-acrylamide copolymer | no image | 3 |
| 61790-12-3 | Fatty acids, tall-oil | no image | 3 |
| 61789-77-3 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, dicoco alkyldimethyl, chlorides | no image | 3 |
| 72480-70-7 | Tar bases, quinoline derivatives, benzyl chloride-quaternized | no image | 3 |
| 78330-20-8 | Alcohols, C9-11-iso-, C10-rich, ethoxylated | no image | 2 |
| 7664-38-2 | Phosphoric acid |  | 2 |
| 31726-34-8 | alpha-Hexyl,omega-hydroxypoly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl) | no image | 2 |
| 30846-35-6 | Formaldehyde, polymer with 4-nonylphenol and oxirane | no image | 2 |
| 870-72-4 | Sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate |  | 2 |
| 5064-31-3 | Glycine, N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-, trisodium salt |  | 2 |
| 68131-71-5 | Triethanolamine polyphosphate ester | no image | 2 |
| 67-48-1 | 2-Hydroxy-N,N,N-trimethylethan-1-aminium chloride |  | 2 |
| 68989-00-4 | Quaternary ammonium compounds, benzyl-C10-16-alkyldimethyl, chlorides | no image | 2 |
| 78330-19-5 | Alcohols, C7-9-iso-, C8-rich, ethoxylated | no image | 2 |
| 7757-82-6 | Sodium sulfate anhydrous |  | 2 |
| 51200-87-4 | 4,4-Dimethyl oxazolidine |  | 1 |
| 6381-77-7 | Sodium erythorbate |  | 1 |
| 64743-02-8 | Alkenes, C>10 alpha- | no image | 1 |
| 52501-07-2 | Aziridine, polymer with methyloxirane and oxirane | no image | 1 |
| 61788-62-3 | Amines, dicoco alkylmethyl | no image | 1 |
| 38011-25-5 | Disodium ethylenediaminediacetate |  | 1 |
| 102-71-6 | Triethanolamine |  | 1 |
| 139-89-9 | Trisodium (2-hydroxyethyl)ethylenediaminetriacetate |  | 1 |
| 35429-19-7 | Polyquaternium-15 | no image | 1 |
| 68131-40-8 | C11-15-Secondary alcohols ethoxylated | no image | 1 |
| 26266-58-0 | Sorbitan trioleate | no image | 1 |
| 78-21-7 | Cetylethylmorpholinium ethosulfate |  | 1 |
| 68648-89-5 | Benzene, ethenyl-, polymer with 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene, hydrogenated | no image | 1 |
| 127087-87-0 | Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl),alpha-(4-nonylphenyl)-omega-hydroxy-,branched | no image | 1 |
| 22042-96-2 | (((Phosphonomethyl)imino)bis((ethylenenitrilo)bis(methylene)))tetrakisphosphonic acid, sodium salt | no image | 1 |
| 7664-39-3 | Hydrogen fluoride |  | 1 |
| 19019-43-3 | Trisodium ethylenediamine triacetate |  | 1 |
| 2836-32-0 | Glycolic acid sodium salt |  | 1 |
The numbers in this post reflect a FracFocus data set downloaded in January 2025. For more up-to-date statistics, visit this link.
Endnotes
- Open-FF is a public service project, independent of FracFocus, that aims to foster better understanding of chemical uses of the fracking industry by organizing and analyzing chemical disclosures of FracFocus. To see company-specific information about Continental Resources, Inc, visit this page.
- The values that are omitted are in the “PercentHFJob” data field which represents the percentage (by mass) of the total fracking fluid. This number is usually less that 1% but because the mass of the total fluid is enormous – often greater that 100 million pounds – the actual mass of the chemical component can be quite large.
- The numbers in this post reflect a FracFocus data set downloaded in January 2025. For more up-to-date statistics, visit this link.
- Title image credit: Becky Mansfield, modified by author
- Chemical images credit: EPA Comptox