Valence Operating: 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 Valence Operating published 50 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.

Valence Operating omissions

We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, Valence Operating Company. As of this date, we’ve found 50 disclosures with at least one omission, or 37.6% 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. Valence Operating Company is highlighted in orange. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and Valence Operating Company is part of that club.

Which states?

These flawed disclosures are for fracking jobs exclusively in Texas.

Which chemicals?

The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of Valence Operating Company were affected.

CASRN	Name	Molecular structure	Number of missing values
67-56-1	Methanol		30
1338-43-8	Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate		26
9000-30-0	alpha-D-Galactopyrano-beta-D-mannopyranan	no image	26
111-76-2	2-Butoxyethanol		20
141-43-5	Ethanolamine		20
14808-60-7	Quartz (SiO2)	no image	20
1302-76-7	Kyanite (Al2O(SiO4))	no image	19
1302-93-8	Mullite (Al6O5(SiO4)2)	no image	19
14464-46-1	Cristobalite	no image	19
64742-47-8	Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light	no image	19
12125-02-9	Ammonium chloride		17
68-12-2	N,N-Dimethylformamide		17
111-30-8	Glutaraldehyde		17
64-18-6	Formic acid		16
64-02-8	Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid tetrasodium salt		16
7631-86-9	Silica		16
63428-86-4	Polyethylene glycol hexyl ether sulfate, ammonium salt	no image	16
7647-01-0	Hydrochloric acid		16
7681-82-5	Sodium iodide		16
77-92-9	Citric acid		16
64742-94-5	Solvent naphtha, petroleum, heavy arom.	no image	16
64-19-7	Acetic acid		16
75-91-2	tert-Butyl hydroperoxide		16
57-55-6	1,2-Propylene glycol		16
7447-40-7	Potassium chloride		16
68607-28-3	Quaternary ammonium compounds, (oxydi-2,1-ethanediyl)bis[coco alkyldimethyl, dichlorides	no image	16
65-85-0	Benzoic acid		16
67-48-1	2-Hydroxy-N,N,N-trimethylethan-1-aminium chloride		16
67-63-0	Isopropanol		16
68002-97-1	Ethoxylated C10-16 alcohols	no image	16
68439-51-0	Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated propoxylated	no image	16
68139-30-0	1-Propanaminium, N-(3-aminopropyl)-2-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyl-3-sulfo-, N-coco acyl derivs., inner salts	no image	16
7727-37-9	Nitrogen		16
7772-98-7	Sodium thiosulfate		16
7727-54-0	Diammonium peroxydisulfate		16
55566-30-8	Tetrakis(hydroxymethyl)phosphonium sulfate		16
91-20-3	Naphthalene		16
10043-52-4	Calcium chloride		16
10124-31-9	Ammonium acid phosphate	no image	16
102-71-6	Triethanolamine		16
104-76-7	2-Ethyl-1-hexanol		16
84133-50-6	Alcohols, C12-14-secondary, ethoxylated	no image	16
78330-20-8	Alcohols, C9-11-iso-, C10-rich, ethoxylated	no image	16
124-38-9	Carbon dioxide		16
1302-74-5	Corundum (Aluminum oxide)	no image	16
68439-46-3	Alcohols, C9-11, ethoxylated	no image	16
78330-19-5	Alcohols, C7-9-iso-, C8-rich, ethoxylated	no image	16
7783-18-8	Ammonium thiosulfate		16
1310-73-2	Sodium hydroxide		16
16887-00-6	Chloride		16
25322-68-3	Polyethylene glycol		16
7772-99-8	Stannous chloride		16
68439-45-2	Alcohols, C6-12, ethoxylated	no image	16
7757-82-6	Sodium sulfate anhydrous		16
50-00-0	Formaldehyde		16
9003-35-4	Bakelite	no image	15
100-97-0	Methenamine		15
1319-33-1	Ulexite	no image	14
100-44-7	Benzyl chloride		13
1310-58-3	Potassium hydroxide		13
10043-35-3	Boric acid (H3BO3)		13
56-81-5	Glycerol		13
445411-73-4	Gas oils, petroleum, vacuum, hydrocracked, hydroisomerized, hydrogenated, C10-25, branched and cyclic	no image	12
107-19-7	Propargyl alcohol		12
8002-09-3	Pine oils	no image	12
26027-38-3	26-(4-Nonylphenoxy)-3,6,9,12,15,18,21,24-octaoxahexacosan-1-ol		12
584-08-7	Potassium carbonate		12
75-12-7	Formamide		12
61790-12-3	Fatty acids, tall-oil	no image	11
64742-53-6	Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated light naphthenic	no image	10
108-32-7	Propylene carbonate		5
64742-96-7	Solvent naphtha, petroleum, heavy aliph.	no image	4
81741-28-8	Tributyltetradecylphosphonium chloride		4
64-17-5	Ethanol		3
71011-25-1	Quaternary ammonium compounds, benzyl(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethylammonium salt with bentonite	no image	3
68990-47-6	Fatty acids, tall-oil, reaction products with diethylenetriamine, maleic anhydride, tetraethylenepentamine and triethylenetetramine	no image	3
12045-78-2	Boron potassium oxide (B4K2O7), tetrahydrate		3
78330-21-9	Alcohols, C11-14-isoalcohols, C13-rich, ethoxylated	no image	3
68131-71-5	Triethanolamine polyphosphate ester	no image	2
26266-58-0	Sorbitan trioleate	no image	2
68953-58-2	Quaternary ammonium compounds, bis(hydrogenated tallow alkyl)dimethyl, salts with bentonite	no image	2
9003-05-8	Polyacrylamide		2
85566-12-7	C8-10 Alcohols	no image	1
9004-67-5	Methyl cellulose	no image	1
107-21-1	Ethylene glycol		1
68424-85-1	C12-16-Alkylbenzyldimethylammonium chlorides		1
1302-78-9	Bentonite	no image	1
5989-27-5	D-Limonene		1
63148-62-9	Siloxanes and Silicones, di-Me	no image	1
64742-95-6	Light aromatic solvent naphtha (petroleum)	no image	1
69011-36-5	Polyoxyethylene trimethyldecyl alcohol	no image	1
93-83-4	Oleic acid diethanolamide		1

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

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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 Valence Operating Company, 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