Summary: FracFocus disclosures that omit fundamental quantity information undermine the integrity of the fracking chemical data. Open-FF (1) found that the operator COG Operating published 329 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.
COG Operating omissions
We’ve found many such data omissions (2) in the disclosures of the operating company, COG Operating LLC. As of this date, we’ve found 329 disclosures with at least one omission, or 11.7% 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. COG Operating LLC is highlighted in orange. While COG Operating is not in the top 25% for percent of disclosure, it one of the handful of companies with more that 1,000 records without quantity data. Clearly a small fraction of companies account for much of the lacking records and COG Operating LLC 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 | 217 |
| New Mexico | 111 |
Which chemicals?
The following table lists the materials for which quantity was omitted and how many records of COG Operating LLC were affected.
| CASRN | Name | Molecular structure | Number of missing values |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1344-28-1 | Alumina | no image | 64 |
| 67-56-1 | Methanol |  | 54 |
| 7647-01-0 | Hydrochloric acid |  | 39 |
| 64-19-7 | Acetic acid |  | 38 |
| 75-21-8 | Ethylene oxide |  | 26 |
| 24937-78-8 | Vinyl acetate ethylene copolymer | no image | 25 |
| 67-63-0 | Isopropanol |  | 22 |
| 14808-60-7 | Quartz (SiO2) | no image | 20 |
| 25322-68-3 | Polyethylene glycol |  | 20 |
| 7646-85-7 | Zinc chloride |  | 20 |
| 298-12-4 | Glyoxylic acid |  | 20 |
| 107-19-7 | Propargyl alcohol |  | 19 |
| 61790-12-3 | Fatty acids, tall-oil | no image | 16 |
| 68585-34-2 | Poly(oxy-1,2-ethanediyl), alpha-sulfo-omega-hydroxy-, C10-16-alkyl ethers, sodium salts | no image | 15 |
| 64742-47-8 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated light | no image | 15 |
| 9014-01-1 | Subtilisin | no image | 15 |
| 12125-02-9 | Ammonium chloride |  | 15 |
| 629-73-2 | 1-Hexadecene |  | 13 |
| 67-48-1 | 2-Hydroxy-N,N,N-trimethylethan-1-aminium chloride |  | 13 |
| 25085-02-3 | Acrylamide-sodium acrylate copolymer | no image | 12 |
| 1310-73-2 | Sodium hydroxide |  | 12 |
| 111-30-8 | Glutaraldehyde |  | 11 |
| 108-24-7 | Acetic anhydride |  | 11 |
| 79-21-0 | Peracetic acid |  | 10 |
| 7722-84-1 | Hydrogen peroxide |  | 10 |
| 68424-85-1 | C12-16-Alkylbenzyldimethylammonium chlorides |  | 10 |
| 64-17-5 | Ethanol |  | 10 |
| 7173-51-5 | Didecyldimethylammonium chloride |  | 9 |
| 7681-52-9 | Sodium hypochlorite |  | 9 |
| 77-92-9 | Citric acid |  | 8 |
| 7783-28-0 | Diammonium hydrogen phosphate |  | 8 |
| 8042-47-5 | White mineral oil, petroleum | no image | 8 |
| 9000-30-0 | alpha-D-Galactopyrano-beta-D-mannopyranan | no image | 7 |
| 10043-52-4 | Calcium chloride |  | 7 |
| 7758-19-2 | Sodium chlorite |  | 7 |
| 68439-46-3 | Alcohols, C9-11, ethoxylated | no image | 6 |
| 111-76-2 | 2-Butoxyethanol |  | 6 |
| 68648-89-5 | Benzene, ethenyl-, polymer with 2-methyl-1,3-butadiene, hydrogenated | no image | 6 |
| 9003-05-8 | Polyacrylamide |  | 6 |
| 56-81-5 | Glycerol |  | 6 |
| 5989-27-5 | D-Limonene |  | 5 |
| 50-00-0 | Formaldehyde |  | 5 |
| 9003-06-9 | Acrylamide-acrylic acid copolymer | no image | 5 |
| 34398-01-1 | Polyoxyethylene monoundecyl ether |  | 5 |
| 64057-57-4 | Ethaneperoxoic acid, sodium salt (1:1) |  | 5 |
| 1310-58-3 | Potassium hydroxide |  | 5 |
| 107-21-1 | Ethylene glycol |  | 5 |
| 68036-95-3 | Oxirane, 2-methyl-, polymer with oxirane, ether with 2-(chloromethyl)oxirane polymer with 4,4′-(1-methylethylidene)bis[phenol] | no image | 5 |
| 68439-51-0 | Alcohols, C12-14, ethoxylated propoxylated | no image | 4 |
| 9005-65-6 | Polysorbate 80 | no image | 4 |
| 9016-45-9 | Nonylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol |  | 4 |
| 9051-89-2 | 1,4-Dioxane-2,5-dione, 3,6-dimethyl-, (3R,6R)-, polymer with rel-(3R,6S)-3,6-dimethyl-1,4-dioxane-2,5-dione and (3S,6S)-3,6-dimethyl-1,4-dioxane-2,5-dione | no image | 4 |
| 848301-67-7 | Distillates (Fischer-Tropsch), C8-26-branched and linear | no image | 4 |
| 68002-97-1 | Ethoxylated C10-16 alcohols | no image | 4 |
| 98-86-2 | Acetophenone |  | 4 |
| 224635-63-6 | Acetic acid, reaction products with acetophenone, cyclohexylamine, formaldehyde and methanol | no image | 4 |
| 104-55-2 | 3-Phenylprop-2-enal |  | 4 |
| 111-42-2 | Diethanolamine |  | 4 |
| 61791-26-2 | PEG-10 Hydrogenated tallow amine | no image | 4 |
| 13709-94-9 | Potassium metaborate |  | 4 |
| 7447-40-7 | Potassium chloride |  | 3 |
| 93-83-4 | Oleic acid diethanolamide |  | 3 |
| 91053-39-3 | Diatomaceous earth, calcined | no image | 3 |
| 1338-43-8 | Sorbitan, mono-(9Z)-9-octadecenoate |  | 3 |
| 79-06-1 | Acrylamide |  | 3 |
| 78330-21-9 | Alcohols, C11-14-isoalcohols, C13-rich, ethoxylated | no image | 3 |
| 100-97-0 | Methenamine |  | 3 |
| 67784-80-9 | Soybean oil, Me ester | no image | 3 |
| 64742-55-8 | Distillates, petroleum, hydrotreated light paraffinic | no image | 3 |
| 68551-12-2 | Alcohols, C12-16, ethoxylated | no image | 3 |
| 100-41-4 | Ethylbenzene |  | 2 |
| 108-32-7 | Propylene carbonate |  | 2 |
| 71050-62-9 | 2-Propenoic acid, polymer with sodium phosphinate | no image | 2 |
| 13598-36-2 | Phosphonic acid |  | 2 |
| 13840-56-7 | Boric acid (H3BO3), sodium salt (1:x) | no image | 2 |
| 9003-35-4 | Bakelite | no image | 2 |
| 64741-85-1 | Raffinates, petroleum, sorption process | no image | 2 |
| 590-29-4 | Formic acid, potassium salt |  | 2 |
| 9025-56-3 | Hemicellulase | no image | 1 |
| 81741-28-8 | Tributyltetradecylphosphonium chloride |  | 1 |
| 112-27-6 | Triethylene glycol |  | 1 |
| 9043-30-5 | Polyoxyethylene isotridecyl ether |  | 1 |
| 112-53-8 | 1-Dodecanol |  | 1 |
| 64742-46-7 | Distillates (petroleum), hydrotreated middle | no image | 1 |
| 12174-11-7 | Attapulgite | no image | 1 |
| 123-91-1 | 1,4-Dioxane |  | 1 |
| 68188-99-8 | Formaldehyde, polymer with 4-(1,1-dimethylethyl)phenol, 2-methyloxirane, 4-nonylphenol and oxirane | no image | 1 |
| 94266-47-4 | Citrus extract | no image | 1 |
| 1330-43-4 | Sodium tetraborate (Na2B4O7) | no image | 1 |
| 69227-21-0 | Alcohols, C12-18, ethoxylated propoxylated | no image | 1 |
| 1336-21-6 | Ammonium hydroxide |  | 1 |
| 68476-25-5 | Aventurine | no image | 1 |
| 60-24-2 | 2-Mercaptoethanol |  | 1 |
| 7727-54-0 | Diammonium peroxydisulfate |  | 1 |
| 15827-60-8 | Diethylenetriaminepenta(methylenephosphonic acid) |  | 1 |
| 68603-42-9 | Amides, coco, N,N-bis(hydroxyethyl) | no image | 1 |
| 7664-93-9 | Sulfuric acid |  | 1 |
| 7664-38-2 | Phosphoric acid |  | 1 |
| 27176-87-0 | Dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid |  | 1 |
| 30704-64-4 | p-tert-Butylphenol-ethylene oxide-formaldehyde-propylene oxide copolymer | no image | 1 |
| 7631-90-5 | Sodium bisulfite |  | 1 |
| 7631-86-9 | Silica |  | 1 |
| 31017-83-1 | POLY(OXY-1,2-ETHANEDIYL), ALPHA,ALPHA’-[(DODECYLIMINO)DI-2,1-ETHANEDIYL]BIS[OMEGA-HYDROXY- | no image | 1 |
| 7447-39-4 | Copper(II) chloride |  | 1 |
| 57-55-6 | 1,2-Propylene glycol |  | 1 |
| 68527-49-1 | Thiourea, polymer with formaldehyde and 1-phenylethanone | no image | 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 COG Operating LLC, 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