Anadarko Petroleum: Omissions of quantity data

Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator Anadarko Petroleum Corporation published 660 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.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation omissions

We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation. As of this date, we’ve found 660 disclosures with at least one omission, or 11.8% of all of the company’s disclosures (example). 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. Anadarko Petroleum Corporation is highlighted in orange. Although Anadarko is not in the upper 25% by percentage of affected disclosures, it has one of the highest numbers of total affected records. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Anadarko Petroleum Corporation is part of that club.

Which states?

These flawed disclosures are for fracking jobs in the following states.

State	number of disclosures with omissions
Texas	545
Colorado	51
Wyoming	31
Louisiana	18
Utah	10
Kansas	5

Which chemicals?

The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation were affected.

CASRN	Name	Molecular structure	Number of missing values
64742-47-8	Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light	no image	379
68002-97-1	Ethoxylated C10-16 alcohols	no image	287
7757-82-6	Sodium sulfate anhydrous		214
68551-12-2	Alcohols, C12-16, ethoxylated	no image	214
397256-50-7	2-Propenoic acid, polymer with sodium ethanesulfonate, peroxydisulfuric acid, disodium salt- initiated, reaction products with tetrasodium ethenylidenebis (phosphonata)	no image	210
1310-58-3	Potassium hydroxide		195
68439-50-9	Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated	no image	193
69418-26-4	Polyquaternium-33	no image	188
9043-30-5	Polyoxyethylene isotridecyl ether		150
24938-91-8	Polyoxyethylene tridecyl ether		149
154518-36-2	Alcohols, C9-11-iso-, C10-rich, ethoxylated propoxylated	no image	149
1338-43-8	Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate		143
64-02-8	Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt		108
7631-90-5	Sodium bisulfite		102
7783-20-2	Ammonium sulfate		99
25987-30-8	2-Propenoic acid, polymer with 2-propenamide, sodium salt	no image	98
127-09-3	Sodium acetate		96
66455-15-0	Alcohols, C10-14, ethoxylated	no image	96
7446-09-5	Sulfur dioxide		82
127-08-2	Potassium acetate		79
7447-40-7	Potassium chloride		77
10043-52-4	Calcium chloride		74
9000-30-0	alpha-D-Galactopyrano-beta-D-mannopyranan	no image	39
14808-60-7	Quartz (SiO2)	no image	36
7664-93-9	Sulfuric acid		36
12045-78-2	Boron potassium oxide (B4K2O7), tetrahydrate		30
141-43-5	Ethanolamine		29
5329-14-6	Sulfamic acid		28
7772-99-8	Stannous chloride		28
34690-00-1	[[(Phosphonomethyl)imino]bis[6,1-hexanediylnitrilobis(methylene)]]tetrakis-phosphonic acid		23
61790-12-3	Fatty acids, tall-oil	no image	23
12125-02-9	Ammonium chloride		23
9005-65-6	Polysorbate 80	no image	23
7722-76-1	Ammonium phosphate		20
7681-82-5	Sodium iodide		20
78330-21-9	Alcohols, C11-14-isoalcohols, C13-rich, ethoxylated	no image	20
111-76-2	2-Butoxyethanol		20
108-32-7	Propylene carbonate		20
71011-25-1	Quaternary ammonium compounds, benzyl(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethylammonium salt with bentonite	no image	19
121888-68-4	Bentonite, benzyl(hydrogenated tallow alkyl) dimethylammonium stearate complex	no image	19
68990-47-6	Fatty acids, tall-oil, reaction products with diethylenetriamine, maleic anhydride, tetraethylenepentamine and triethylenetetramine	no image	19
1319-33-1	Ulexite	no image	18
112926-00-8	Hydrated silica	no image	18
3252-43-5	Dibromoacetonitrile		18
68527-49-1	Thiourea, polymer with formaldehyde and 1-phenylethanone	no image	17
2836-32-0	Glycolic acid sodium salt		17
68951-67-7	Alcohols, C14-15, ethoxylated	no image	16
7727-54-0	Diammonium peroxydisulfate		14
50-00-0	Formaldehyde		14
56-81-5	Glycerol		13
9004-67-5	Methyl cellulose	no image	13
63148-62-9	Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me	no image	13
68648-87-3	Benzene, C10-16-alkyl derivatives	no image	12
68439-51-0	Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated propoxylated	no image	12
1303-96-4	Borax (B4Na2O7.10H2O)	no image	12
556-67-2	Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane		11
75-21-8	Ethylene oxide		11
67-56-1	Methanol		11
108-10-1	4-Methyl-2-pentanone		10
64-19-7	Acetic acid		10
61791-26-2	PEG-10 Hydrogenated tallow amine	no image	9
10604-69-0	Ammonium acrylate		8
63800-37-3	Sepiolite	no image	8
68155-20-4	Tall-oil fatty acid DEA	no image	8
79-06-1	Acrylamide		8
68410-62-8	Ethoxylated naphthenic acids	no image	7
9004-32-4	Edifas B	no image	6
84133-50-6	Alcohols, C12-14-secondary, ethoxylated	no image	6
25322-68-3	Polyethylene glycol		6
77-92-9	Citric acid		6
111-30-8	Glutaraldehyde		6
68424-85-1	C12-16-Alkylbenzyldimethylammonium chlorides		6
108-24-7	Acetic anhydride		5
123-91-1	1,4-Dioxane		5
75-56-9	(+/-)-1,2-Propylene oxide		5
1762-95-4	Ammonium isothiocyanate		5
7664-38-2	Phosphoric acid		5
7647-01-0	Hydrochloric acid		4
7631-86-9	Silica		4
68953-58-2	Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, salts with bentonite	no image	4
9004-96-0	Poly(oxyethylene) monoleate		4
9004-62-0	Hydroxyethylcellulose	no image	4
61723-83-9	Polyoxyethylene sorbitol tetraoleate	no image	4
95-63-6	1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene		4
631-61-8	Ammonium acetate		3
56652-26-7	Poly(oxymethylene), alpha-[(4,4-dimethyl-3-oxazolidinyl)methyl]-omega-hydroxy-		3
67-48-1	2-Hydroxy-N,N,N-trimethylethan-1-aminium chloride		3
540-72-7	Sodium thiocyanate		3
9002-92-0	Polyoxyethylene dodecyl mono ether		2
34590-94-8	Dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether		2
1302-76-7	Kyanite (Al2O(SiO4))	no image	2
26100-47-0	Ammonium acrylate-acrylamide copolymer	no image	2
61791-14-8	Amines, coco alkyl, ethoxylated	no image	2
11138-66-2	Corn sugar gum	no image	2
72480-70-7	Tar bases, quinoline derivatives, benzyl chloride-quaternized	no image	2
107-19-7	Propargyl alcohol		2
64-17-5	Ethanol		2
64742-54-7	Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated heavy paraffinic	no image	2
64742-65-0	Distillates, petroleum, solvent-dewaxed heavy paraffinic	no image	2
144-55-8	Sodium bicarbonate		2
64743-02-8	Alkenes, C>10 alpha-	no image	2
27306-79-2	Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), alpha-tetradecyl-omega-hydroxy-	no image	2
1344-28-1	Alumina	no image	1
9002-84-0	Polytetrafluoroethylene		1
68442-77-3	2-Butenediamide, (2E)-, N,N’-bis[2-(4,5-dihydro-2-nortall-oil alkyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)ethyl] derivs.	no image	1
1309-37-1	Iron oxide (Fe2O3)		1
8007-43-0	Sorbitan sesquioleate	no image	1
127087-87-0	Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl),alpha-(4-nonylphenyl)-omega-hydroxy-,branched	no image	1
112-80-1	Oleic acid		1
91-20-3	Naphthalene		1
13446-12-3	Ammonium hydrogen phosphonate		1
26183-52-8	Polyethylene glycol monodecyl ether	no image	1
13463-67-7	Titanium dioxide		1
143-18-0	Potassium oleate		1
14807-96-6	Talc	no image	1
19019-43-3	Trisodium ethylenediamine triacetate		1
27176-87-0	Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid		1
29316-47-0	Formaldehyde, polymer with 4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)phenol and methyl oxirane	no image	1
38011-25-5	Disodium ethylenediaminediacetate		1
57-13-6	Urea		1
62649-23-4	Poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid), partial sodium salt	no image	1
63428-92-2	Ethylene oxide-formaldehyde-p-nonylphenol-propylene oxide copolymer	no image	1
7173-51-5	Didecyldimethylammonium chloride		1
68956-56-9	Hydrocarbons, terpene processing by-products	no image	1
100-97-0	Methenamine		1

The numbers in this post reflect a FracFocus data set downloaded in January 2025. For more up-to-date statistics, visit this link.

SEPARATORS

Endnotes

1. 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 Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, visit this page.
2. 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.
3. The numbers in this post reflect a FracFocus data set downloaded in January 2025. For more up-to-date statistics, visit this link.
4. Title image credit: Becky Mansfield, modified by author
5. Chemical images credit: EPA Comptox