BHP Billiton 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 BHP Billiton Petroleum published 964 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.

BHP Billiton omissions

We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, BHP Billiton Petroleum. As of this date, we’ve found 964 disclosures with at least one omission, or 76.4% 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. BHP Billiton Petroleum is highlighted in orange. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and BHP Billiton Petroleum 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	918
Louisiana	46

Which chemicals?

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

CASRN	Name	Molecular structure	Number of missing values
5064-31-3	Glycine, N,N-bis(carboxymethyl)-, trisodium salt		392
50-00-0	Formaldehyde		340
2634-33-5	1,2-Benzisothiazolin-3-one		278
533-74-4	Dazomet		277
7632-00-0	Sodium nitrite		271
9004-32-4	Edifas B	no image	269
9005-65-6	Polysorbate 80	no image	264
150-38-9	Trisodium ethylenediaminetetraacetate		210
139-33-3	Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid, disodium salt		210
36089-45-9	2-Propenoic acid, 2-ethylhexyl ester, polymer with 2-hydroxyethyl 2-propenoate	no image	209
68308-89-4	Fatty acids, C18-unsatd., dimers, ethoxylated propoxylated	no image	209
68937-55-3	Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me, 3-hydroxypropyl Me, ethoxylated propoxylated	no image	209
9043-30-5	Polyoxyethylene isotridecyl ether		177
52-51-7	Bronopol		177
557-04-0	Magnesium stearate		168
112-53-8	1-Dodecanol		149
1338-41-6	Anhydrosorbitol stearate	no image	115
64-19-7	Acetic acid		95
27306-79-2	Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), alpha-tetradecyl-omega-hydroxy-	no image	78
11138-66-2	Corn sugar gum	no image	77
127-08-2	Potassium acetate		76
9002-92-0	Polyoxyethylene dodecyl mono ether		68
75-21-8	Ethylene oxide		65
75-56-9	(+/-)-1,2-Propylene oxide		65
123-91-1	1,4-Dioxane		65
9016-88-0	1,4-Benzenedicarboxylic acid, polymer with 1,2-ethanediol and .alpha.-hydro-.omega.-hydroxypoly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl)	no image	56
39322-78-6	Potassium lauryl phosphate	no image	56
72283-36-4	Oxirane, 2-methyl-, polymer with oxirane, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate, methyl ether	no image	53
67762-90-7	Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me, reaction products with silica	no image	51
64743-02-8	Alkenes, C>10 alpha-	no image	46
541-02-6	Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane		41
7758-98-7	Copper sulfate		41
556-67-2	Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane		41
540-97-6	Dodecamethylcyclohexasiloxane		41
112-80-1	Oleic acid		40
9002-84-0	Polytetrafluoroethylene		37
63148-62-9	Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me	no image	31
14807-96-6	Talc	no image	29
61791-26-2	PEG-10 Hydrogenated tallow amine	no image	27
98-86-2	Acetophenone		25
2836-32-0	Glycolic acid sodium salt		22
1310-73-2	Sodium hydroxide		21
74-87-3	Chloromethane		18
107-19-7	Propargyl alcohol		17
79-06-1	Acrylamide		16
143-18-0	Potassium oleate		15
64-02-8	Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt		14
67-63-0	Isopropanol		11
68951-67-7	Alcohols, C14-15, ethoxylated	no image	9
7631-86-9	Silica		9
112-88-9	1-Octadecene		8
78-21-7	Cetylethylmorpholinium ethosulfate		7
67-56-1	Methanol		7
1310-58-3	Potassium hydroxide		5
68551-12-2	Alcohols, C12-16, ethoxylated	no image	5
629-73-2	1-Hexadecene		5
61788-62-3	Amines, dicoco alkylmethyl	no image	5
66455-14-9	Alcohols, C12-13, ethoxylated	no image	4
9005-64-5	Polysorbate 20	no image	4
68439-50-9	Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated	no image	4
68527-49-1	Thiourea, polymer with formaldehyde and 1-phenylethanone	no image	4
84133-50-6	Alcohols, C12-14-secondary, ethoxylated	no image	4
64-17-5	Ethanol		3
66455-15-0	Alcohols, C10-14, ethoxylated	no image	3
61790-12-3	Fatty acids, tall-oil	no image	3
104-55-2	3-Phenylprop-2-enal		3
7487-88-9	Magnesium sulfate anhydrous		3
12125-02-9	Ammonium chloride		2
9003-11-6	Poloxalene	no image	2
10604-69-0	Ammonium acrylate		2
540-72-7	Sodium thiocyanate		2
31726-34-8	alpha-Hexyl,omega-hydroxypoly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl)	no image	2
61723-83-9	Polyoxyethylene sorbitol tetraoleate	no image	2
61789-77-3	Quaternary ammonium compounds, dicoco alkyldimethyl, chlorides	no image	2
68002-97-1	Ethoxylated C10-16 alcohols	no image	2
6381-77-7	Sodium erythorbate		2
25038-72-6	Vinylidene chloride/methylacrylate copolymer	no image	2
1338-43-8	Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate		1
143-22-6	2-[2-(2-Butoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethanol		1
56-81-5	Glycerol		1
111-30-8	Glutaraldehyde		1
10043-52-4	Calcium chloride		1
26183-52-8	Polyethylene glycol monodecyl ether	no image	1
870-72-4	Sodium hydroxymethanesulfonate		1
25322-69-4	Polypropylene glycol		1
125005-87-0	Diutan gum	no image	1
71050-62-9	2-Propenoic acid, polymer with sodium phosphinate	no image	1
7727-54-0	Diammonium peroxydisulfate		1
7681-52-9	Sodium hypochlorite		1
7647-01-0	Hydrochloric acid		1
127-09-3	Sodium acetate		1
7631-90-5	Sodium bisulfite		1
68123-18-2	Phenol, 4,4′-(1-methylethylidene)bis-, polymer with 2-(chloromethyl)oxirane, 2-methyloxirane and oxirane	no image	1
68188-99-8	Formaldehyde, polymer with 4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)phenol, 2-methyloxirane, 4-nonylphenol and oxirane	no image	1
68439-46-3	Alcohols, C9-11, ethoxylated	no image	1
7447-40-7	Potassium chloride		1
52501-07-2	Aziridine, polymer with methyloxirane and oxirane	no image	1
1336-21-6	Ammonium hydroxide		1
100-41-4	Ethylbenzene		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 BHP Billiton Petroleum, 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